By Kylie M Tsudama
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – For the second time in two days, an attack in western Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur killed two Rwandan peacekeepers and wounded another.  Rwandans are serving in the joint United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

On Friday there was an ambush in the northern town of Saraf Umra near a market and a government checkpoint.  A UNAMID platoon of 20 Rwandan peacekeepers in three land cruisers were escorting a water tanker when a group of armed men attacked.  Three Rwandan soldiers were killed and two others were injured.  The UNAMID team returned fire and an assailant was wounded but the attackers escaped.

Another attack on Saturday killed two Rwandan peacekeepers and wounded another in Shangil Tobaa in northern Darfur.

“Rwandan soldiers were distributing water at the gate of a camp for the displaced in Shangil Tobaa when one or two armed men fired at them.  Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded,” said an anonymous UN source.

Both attacks were confirmed by UNAMID head of communications Kamal Saiki.

“There is no indication on the motives of the attackers, but we suspect that it was an attempt to carjack the vehicles,” Saiki said.

The latest killings bring the total number of peacekeepers killed since the mission’s launch in 2004 to twenty-two.

“The UNAMID condemns in the strongest terms this criminal attack against its forces,” said a statement released Saturday.

The violence began in Darfur in 2003 when separatist rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government in Khartoum.  A campaign of violence began soon after when pro-government Arab militias targeted the black African population.

Clashes have eased but since the indictment of President Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, insecurity has been growing with a string of kidnappings of foreign aid workers.

According to the UN, up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine, and disease, and more than 2.7 million have fled their homes since the conflict began in 2003.  The government claims only 10,000 deaths.

The United Nations issued a statement following Friday’s attack that said, “The Secretary-General deplores this attack on AU-UN peacekeepers in Darfur and calls on the Government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – Two More Rwandan Peacekeepers Killed in Darfur – 05 December 2009

AP – Gunmen Kill 3 Peacekeepers in Darfur Ambush – 05 December 2009

BBC – Rwandan Soldiers Killed in Darfur – 05 December 2009

Xinhua – Unknown Gunmen Kill 3 UNAMID Peacekeepers in Darfur – 05 December 2009

Boomberg – Sudan Attack Kills Two Rwandan Peacekeepers in Darfur, UN Says – 04 December 2009

UN News Centre – Three UN Peacekeepers Killed After Attack in Sudan’s Darfur Region – 04 December 2009