ARMED MEN CARJACK PEACEKEEPER’S VEHICLE IN NORTH DARFUR, UN REPORTS

Two unidentified gunmen carjacked a vehicle last night from United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the mission in the violence-torn region of Sudan reported today.

The driver of the vehicle, an international UN staff member, was unhurt by the two armed men who stole the car in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Over the past month, UNAMID has reported a rise in attacks on peacekeeping staff, carjacking, other banditry, and harassment of civilians in Darfur.

There has also been concern over the safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been ordered to leave the region following the indictment on 4 March of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the region.

Meanwhile, in the past day UNAMID conducted 22 confidence-building patrols, 19 escort patrols and five night patrols covering 35 villages and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The mission's police also conducted close to 100 patrols in and around villages and IDP camps.

As part of its capacity building efforts, UNAMID police began a five-day training programme in criminal investigation for Sudanese police in Nyala, South Darfur.

UNAMID was set up by the Security Council to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.

More than one year on from transferring the task of suppressing the violence to UNAMID from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), over 12,000 of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council are in place across Darfur.
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BOOSTING DEPLOYMENT OF UN-AFRICAN UNION FORCE FOCUS OF DARFUR MEETING

Representatives of the Government of Sudan, the African Union and the United Nations met today in Darfur to discuss ways to facilitate and expedite deployment of the joint peacekeeping force tasked with quelling the violence in the strife-torn region.

Participants at the fifth meeting of the Tripartite Committee on the AU-UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID) noted that the deployment of military forces, including troops, officers and military observers, has reached 67 per cent as of the end of March.

Speaking to the press after today's meeting in the North Darfur capital of El Fasher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Susana Malcorra said the steady increase in deployment over the past year was an indication of the success of the regular Tripartite Committee meetings.

At full strength, UNAMID is slated to become the world body's largest peacekeeping operation, with some 26,000 military and police personnel.

In his latest report on UNAMID, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that more than a year after it was set up, the operation still lacks critical logistical equipment, especially air power.

"The provision of outstanding equipment, in particular military helicopter assets, remains critical to increasing the mobility and operational impact of the mission," he stated, calling on Member States who are in a position to provide these vital resources to do so without further delay.

The next Tripartite Committee meeting is scheduled to be held in Darfur in early June.

UNAMID was set up over a year ago by the Security Council to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.
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