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Rebels Overrun Darfur Base, Kill 10 African Union Peacekeepers

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By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU, The Associated Press

Published: October 1, 2007

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 key peace talks set for this month.

Several others were wounded and dozens were missing after about 1,000 rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army attacked the base in Haskanita late Saturday and eventually stormed it early Sunday, African Union peacekeepers said.

The remaining peacekeepers fled the base under the protection of the Sudanese army, which routed the rebels out of the area. Some government troops could be seen plundering from the burned-out camp as an African Union armored vehicle lay smoldering nearby.

'This is the heaviest loss of life and the biggest attack on the African Union mission,' said African Union spokesman Noureddine Mezni. 'Our troops fought a defensive battle to protect the camp, but 30 vehicles eventually stormed it. ... The camp is completely destroyed.'

The Darfur situation had been expected to improve after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Sudan last month and announced new negotiations with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to settle the conflict that has killed at least 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million.

Al-Bashir later announced a cease-fire, but violence increased in the ensuing weeks, with each side trying to improve its position ahead of the peace talks, scheduled to be held in late October in Libya.

Darfur rebels also have grown hostile to the African Union peacekeepers, saying the force is not neutral and favors the government side.

Saturday's raid represents the first time since the 7,000-strong African Union mission was deployed in June 2004 that one of its bases has been overrun, though soldiers have been regularly attacked. Several ambushes of African Union forces in the past year have been blamed on the rebels.

'There is a war going on between the rebels and the government, and the AU is crunched in the middle,' an officer said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

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