Three UN-African Union military personnel were killed by gunmen in Korma, North Darfur on Thursday.
In a press release, the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) explained that two peacekeepers killed and one injured “by a group of unidentified armed men. The injured soldier later succumbed to his wounds and died in Khartoum.”
The statement confirms that the attack occurred when a patrol of Ethiopian peacekeepers guarding a water borehole came under sudden attack. The perpetrators seized a patrol vehicle and fled the scene.
Acting Joint Special Representative Abidoun Bashua is deeply saddened by this incident: “I strongly condemn this heinous crime against our peacekeepers,” he said.
The incident was reported to the Sudanese Foreign Minister early on Thursday evening. The Acting JSR called on the Government of Sudan to act swiftly in bringing the perpetrators to justice.
“An attack on peacekeepers constitutes a war crime is punishable under international criminal law,” he added.
Bashua extended the Mission’s and his own deepest condolences to the family and colleagues of the late peacekeepers, and to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia.
This incident brings the number of peacekeepers who lost their lives in hostile action in Darfur to 61 since the inception of the Mission in December 2007.
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