Two Rwandan peacekeepers were shot dead and three wounded in an ambush by unidentified gunmen near a market in Sudan's Darfur region today, the peacekeeping force said.
The attack was a reminder of the vulnerability of the under-equipped joint UN-African Union UNAMID mission in Darfur and brought the number of its personnel killed by hostile action in two years to 19.
The attackers opened fire on a group of 20 Rwandan soldiers escorting a tanker to a water point on the outskirts of the north Darfur settlement of Saraf Omra, the UNAMID force said.
"It was the worst kind of ambush -- an ambush in a crowd," UNAMID communications chief Kemal Saiki said.
"You have to praise the courage of the peacekeepers. They returned fire but they kept their heads and kept it under control. If they hadn't, we could have been facing many civilian casualties."
Two Rwandan soldiers were killed and three critically wounded, he said. The survivors were airlifted to a hospital in north Darfur's capital El Fasher.
The attackers, armed with automatic weapons, escaped on foot and peacekeepers believed at least one was wounded, Mr Saiki said.
He added that it was unclear why they launched the attack, which took place near houses and a market not far from a Sudanese government checkpoint about 2 km from a UNAMID base in Saraf Omra.
"The men were wearing a mixture of uniforms and civilian clothes. They may well have been trying to snatch a vehicle," he said.
Law and order has collapsed more than six years after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Sudan's government, accusing it of neglecting Darfur.
Reuters