Seven Pakistani troops wounded in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Kurrent News: Seven Pakistani peacekeepers were wounded, two of them seriously, in an ambush on Tuesday in Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur, the joint African Union-United Nations mission and local sources said.

“An ambush took place near the displaced persons camp in El Shereif, around 20 kilometres from Nyala,” the capital of South Darfur state and the most important town in the region, said UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni.

The peacekeepers were in a convoy of four vehicles when they were attacked by unknown assailants, he said. “Seven police were wounded, two of them seriously,” Mezni said.

However, a local source said the wounded were Pakistanis, which would make the first time soldiers from Pakistan have been ambushed in Darfur.

Acts of banditry -- including the theft of vehicles at gunpoint — are common occurrences in Darfur.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million fled their homes since the ethnic minority rebels in Darfur first rose up against the Arab-dominated Sudan government in Feb 2003.—AFP