Posted on 09/30/2007 2:36:21 PM PDT by Lorianne
HASKANITA, Sudan: Rebel forces stormed a small African Union base in northern Darfur and killed 10 peacekeepers in an unprecedented attack on the beleaguered mission that threatened peace talks set for October.
Several others were wounded and dozens were missing after about 1,000 rebels attacked the base in Haskanita late Saturday and eventually stormed it early Sunday, AU peacekeepers in Haskanita said.
The remaining AU peacekeepers were evacuated from the base under the protection of the Sudanese Army, which drove the rebels from the area. Some government troops could be seen plundering goods from the burned-out camp as an AU armored vehicle lay smoldering nearby.
"This is the heaviest loss of life and the biggest attack on the African Union mission," said an AU spokesman, Noureddine Mezni. The peacekeepers were first sent to the region in 2004. "Our troops fought a defensive battle to protect the camp, but 30 vehicles eventually stormed it," the spokesman said, adding that the camp was "completely destroyed."
News of the violence drew swift and widespread condemnation.
"Not only was it a flagrant violation of the cease-fire but an unconscionable crime that breaks every convention and norm of international peacekeeping," said Rodolphe Adada, the political head of a joint United Nations-African Union mission that is due to replace the AU forces.
The Sudanese Army and rebel movements in Darfur initially blamed each other for the assault on the Haskanita base in southeastern Darfur.
But a rebel source said the attack had been carried out by breakaway rebel forces who wanted a seat at peace talks that are scheduled to begin on Oct. 27 in Libya.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
“Not only was it a flagrant violation of the cease-fire but an unconscionable crime that breaks every convention and norm of international peacekeeping,”
Egads!!! They didn’t play by the rules!!! /s
Looks like another case of the first concern of the ‘police’ being the safety of the police.
I’m still waiting for the liberal calls for cut and run....
Nah...both consevatives and liberals agree more than disagree. Both support Wilsonian quagmires.....only they disagree on which ones.
Now let me see ... what were they fighting about again?
Gee, I wonder what the Taliban, AlQaida and the other insurgents would have done? Was anyone kidnapped, tortured and beheaded? Sounds like these rebels are cut above what our troops and friends face daily.
There are 30 of them missing. We’ll learn their fate soon enough.
I’ve lost track. Are the “rebels” in this case Muslim, or what?
If you are calling the Iraq invasion a “Wilsonian quagmire”, I hope you mean by that something other than a nation building exercise with no national interest at stake. I can see no parallels between intervention in Darfur and the overthrow of Saddam.
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