By Elizabeth Costner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Africa

KHARTOUM, Sudan – An African Union base was attacked Sunday, leaving ten peacekeepers dead and several missing.  The attack came just after sunset, at the end of Ramadan.  Survivors have said the rebels used several armored vehicles and rocket-propelled grenades and took the base completely by surprise.  The peacekeepers were able to repel the first attack, however a second battle raged for hours. The rebels stormed the camp around 4 am on Sunday when several peacekeepers were out of ammunition and therefore forced to take cover in a ditch.  Early Sunday the Sudanese army arrived and the rebels left.  It is unknown whether force was used by the army.

Two Sudanese rebel groups are suspected of being behind the attacks. Reports from both the African Union and the Khartoum government have indicated that the attack was the result of an alliance between two rebel groups.  The Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Army’s Unity faction both had troops in the area.

Meanwhile, a rebel faction is accusing the Khartoum government of having responsibility for the deaths. Nouri Abdalla, the spokesman for a faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement in Kampala, Uganda, stated that his group believes the government orchestrated the attack in order to slow deployment of the joint AU-UN peacekeeping force that was recently approved by the United Nations Security Council.

On Monday, Human Rights Watch issued a press release, stating that the attack was a war crime and should be investigated accordingly.

Several rebel groups are scheduled to begin peace negotiations with the government October 27 in Liberia, however this recent attack and subsequent accusations of blame may complicate the preparations.  The peace conference is aimed at broadening the Darfur peace agreement signed in May 2006 between Khartoum and the main rebel movement to include the remaining rebel groups that did not sign.

Since the conflict in Darfur began in 2003, over 200,000 people have died and more than 2 million have been displaced.

For more information, please see:

Voice of America – Rebel Support for Darfur Negotiations Wanes After AU Attack – 2 October 2007

AFP – Rebels suspected in Darfur peacekeeping killings – 2 October 2007

ABC News (AP) – Rebel Attack Came at End of Ramadan Fast – 1 October 2007

Human Rights Watch – Sudan: Peacekeeper Killings are War Crimes – 1 October 2007

For a review of the conflict in Darfur, please see:

Retuers – Key facts about the Darfur conflict – 1 October 2007