SA to boost Darfur troops
2008-04-02 17:17
Khartoum - South Africa said on Tuesday it would send more than a hundred extra peacekeepers to Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, where a joint African Union and United Nations operation is grossly undermanned.
New ambassador to Khartoum Manelisi Genge said South Africa intends to deploy in the range of 600 to 800 personnel to the region gripped by civil conflict since 2003, boosting its current contingent of more than 500.
"Definitely we're going to increase our troop level as other countries do that. We are very committed. We are going to have a full battalion," he said.
Genge said South Africa was "concerned" about the situation in Darfur, adding that his government was waiting for a response from the international community on when it would be conducive for the extra troops to deploy.
Khartoum has been accused by Western powers of dragging its feet on allowing the full deployment of the joint UN-AU force known as UNAMID, which is tasked with providing assistance and protection for Darfur civilians.
The government said the initial agreement was only for African troops and charged that African countries had volunteered enough soldiers to make up the entire force, despite later accepting Chinese and Indian contingents.
When fully deployed, UNAMID is to become the UN's largest peacekeeping operation with 20 000 troops and 6 000 police and civilian personnel.
But barely 9 000 troops and police are currently on the ground.
The conflict, which the UN says has claimed the lives of about 200 000 people and displaced 2.2 million, pits ethnic minority rebels who want a greater share of national resources against the Sudanese government.
Khartoum rejects the figures and puts the death toll at 9 000.