Attack on AU peacekeepers in Darfur hurts aid

International and African efforts to ramp up security in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region ahead of peace talks took a heavy blow on Saturday, when rebel groups attacked an African Union base in Haskanita, in southern Darfur, killing 11 AU peacekeepers and injuring dozens more. At least 20 AU soldiers are missing after what has been described as the deadliest attack yet on the AU mission in Sudan since its arrival in 2004. The incursion underscores the increasing animosity of rebels toward AU peacekeepers, whom some see as sympathetic to the Sudanese government.

The Sudanese government had agreed to let UN peacekeepers into the region to complement the AU force earlier this year.

Thirty vehicles overran the base and "property was looted or vandalized" in the attack, reports the British Broadcasting Corp. According to an AU statement, this was the most casualties suffered by the force since it arrived.

Sources told the BBC that the attackers made off with all the weapons and vehicles they were able to take, and burned the vehicles that remained.

The AU statement described the attackers as "a large and organised group of heavily armed men", but did not say whether they were rebels or government troops.

… AU-UN Joint Special Representative Rodolphe Adada said he was profoundly shocked and appalled by the "outrageous and deliberate" attack, which happened on Saturday evening at a base in Haskanita town.

By late Sunday, the remaining AU peacekeepers had been moved out of the base, reports The Daily Telegraph (London), noting that the "attack came just weeks before crucial peace talks to be hosted by Libya."

Fighting between rebels and Sudanese government forces has intensified as each side tries to improve its position ahead of the negotiations.

Many rebel groups believe the 7,000-strong AU force is collaborating with the Sudan government. The soldiers deployed by the AU, an alliance of all 53 African countries, are widely seen as ineffective.

The nationalities of the AU soldiers killed has not been revealed yet, but most of the troops are from Rwanda and Nigeria, said the Telegraph. Seven of the casualties were Nigerian soldiers, reports the Nigerian newspaper This Day. The attack "followed an April shooting by unidentified gunmen that killed five Senegalese AU peacekeepers in Umbaro, in northwest Darfur, near the border with Chad," it said.

The attack also coincides with the arrival of The Elders, "Nelson Mandela's band of roving diplomats, world leaders and entrepreneurs," in Sudan, reports The Times (London). The group, which includes former US President Jimmy Carter, Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, and Sir Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, which includes Virgin Atlantic, is scheduled to visit Darfur later this week and meet the Sudanese president, various aid groups, and diplomats "in an attempt to ease the deployment" of a 26,000 strong joint UN-AU peacekeeping force early next year.

But they will find a conflict that is rapidly spiralling into anarchy. Aid agencies say they will be forced to withdraw if security does not improve.

Several rebel factions have said they will not attend next month's talks unless the joint United Nations and African Union force is deployed first.

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