CAIRO (AP) — A pair of attacks in Sudan's western Darfur (dar-FOOR') region have killed five peacekeeping troops.
Gunmen targeted peacekeepers from the United Nations-African Union force in the attacks yesterday and today. All five soldiers killed were from Rwanda.
In today's attack, the gunmen approached the gate of a camp housing displaced people. A spokesman for the peacekeeping force says the soldiers were distributing water when they were shot.
The earlier attack took place near a market in a northern town in Darfur. Gunmen fired on a convoy of Rwandan peacekeepers escorting a water tanker. The peacekeepers shot back, but the attackers escaped.
The peacekeepers' spokesman says the motive behind the attack is not clear, but he speculates that the assailants may have been trying to steal the troops' vehicles.
Fighting between rebels and Sudanese government forces in Darfur began in 2003. The United Nations-African Union force was deployed nearly two years ago to protect civilians there.
