Arab militia briefly abduct UN peacekeeper in Darfur
KHARTOUM (AFP) — Armed Arab militiamen briefly abducted a member of the UN-led peacekeeping mission in Darfur on Wednesday, the latest in a series of attacks in the six months since the ill-equipped force deployed.
"A UNAMID staff member was abducted, stripped of official and personal belongings, and physically assaulted by members of an armed Arab militia," said the joint United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur in a statement.
Three of his colleagues were held at gunpoint during the standoff at 11:44 am (0844 GMT) near the main UNAMID military base in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State and the nearby airport.
The peacekeeper -- whose nationality and position was not divulged -- was subsequently released following intervention from Sudanese national security forces, spokesman Nourredine Mezni said.
The band of militia were in a convoy of 1,000 fighters travelling on camel, horseback and jeeps, aid workers said.
"UNAMID condemns in the strongest terms the attack on its peacekeepers... In their attempt to resolve the conflict in Darfur, peacekeepers should not, in any way, be made party to the conflict," the mission said.
UNAMID personnel did not open fire during the standoff, which the force said was to avoid exacerbating the situation and out of consideration for civilians.
Following the assault, the United Nations has banned all but essential movement in El Geneina indefinitely, aid officials said.
Wednesday's attack is the latest in a series of assaults on UNAMID across the vast region of Darfur, where ethnic and tribal conflict has spiralled into escalating insecurity and banditry over the last five years.
In late May, dozens of heavily armed men on horseback ambushed a UNAMID patrol in Darfur seized weapons from Nigerian troops near El Geneina, and in a separate incident a Ugandan policeman was found murdered in North Darfur.
Last month, the World Food Programme cut rations by half because banditry made the roads increasingly dangerous.
Since UNAMID took over from a small African Union force on December 31, only 7,600 troops and 1,500 police are on the ground -- barely a third of the projected total of 19,500 soldiers and 6,500 policemen.
The force lacks the air transport and cover desperately needed to support troops across terrain with limited roads, as well as transport vehicles.
The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since the Darfur conflict broke out in February 2003.
Sudan says 10,000 have been killed.
The conflict broke out when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Khartoum and state-backed Arab militias often called Janjaweed, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.
