UN chief deplores attack on peacekeepers in Darfur

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday condemned a deadly ambush by unidentified gunmen on a United Nations-African Union (UN-AU) patrol in Sudan’s Darfur region. The attack, which took place earlier in the day, left a Nigerian peacekeeper of the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) killed and three others wounded. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban urged the Sudanese government to carry out a speedy investigation and to ensure that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. The secretary-general also expressed his condolences to the government of Nigeria and to the family of the fallen peacekeeper. The head of UNAMID, Ibrahim Gambari, also condemned the attack and stressed that it constitutes a war crime. Gambari, in a message issued by his spokesperson, committed the mission to work closely with Sudanese authorities in order to apprehend the perpetrators as fast as possible. Since the initial deployment of UNAMID on Dec. 31, 2007, 35 peacekeepers have been killed as a result of hostile action. (Xinhua)