Rwandan troops die in Darfur
2007-10-28 21:09
Khartoum - Two Rwandan peacekeepers have died in a car crash a few days after deploying in Sudan's war-torn Darfur province, the African Union mission in Sudan said during a remembrance ceremony on Sunday.
The two men died "in a traffic accident whilst performing their very first set of duties", the AU deputy Head of Mission Hassan Gibril told the ceremony in Darfur's main city of Al-Fasher.
An AU statement paid homage to the men, named as Nyirimigabo Ildephonse and Ndayishimiye Jean-Claude, who arrived in Darfur ahead of a bolstered hybrid AU-United Nations force of 26 000 due to be deployed later this year.
The war-ravaged western region is currently patrolled by an under-equipped AU force of around 7 000.
Ten AU peacekeepers were killed last month in an attack on their camp at Haskanita, the heaviest toll for the force since it was deployed in 2004.
- SAPA