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31 March 2009 The hybrid United Nations-African
Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Darfur, known as
UNAMID, received a boost today from the arrival of 100
personnel from the second Egyptian Infantry Battalion.
Another 100 troops from the battalion are slated to
arrive tomorrow in the strife-torn western flank of
Sudan as a meeting of the Tripartite Committee -
comprising the Government of Sudan, the AU and the UN
- is scheduled to take place for the first time in
Darfur.
Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana
Malcorra is expected to attend the meeting in El
Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, which will
examine ways to facilitate and expedite deployment of
the AU-UN peacekeeping operation in the region.
The hybrid force was set up by the Security Council
to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated
300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7
million have been forced from their homes since
fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against
Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.
More than one year on from transferring the task of
suppressing the violence to UNAMID from the AU Mission
in Sudan (AMIS), well over 12,000 of the 19,555
military personnel authorized by the Security Council
are now in place across Darfur.
In related news, UNAMID reported that an
investigation team was dispatched to a fire that broke
out last night at the Al Riyad camp for internally
displaced persons (IDPs), near El Geneina in West
Darfur. As well as leaving a large number of people
homeless, the blaze caused heavy damage to about 35
shelters and the loss of many animals.
This follows last week's arson attack in the West
Darfur Abu Zar camp for IDPs in which two people were
killed and three were rushed to hospital in El Geneina
with serious injuries.
Meanwhile, the hybrid peacekeeping force
characterized the security situation in Darfur for the
past 72 hours as relatively calm apart from a few
incidents of banditry and carjacking in both North and
West Darfur. In the past few weeks, UNAMID has
reported a rise in attacks on peacekeeping staff and
harassment of civilians in the region.
There has also been concern recently over the
safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been
ordered to leave the region following the indictment
earlier this month of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir
by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged
war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in
Darfur. |
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