African Union Peacekeepers Overrun, Killed

The Associated Press is reporting that "rebels" overran an African Union Peacekeeping force base in Darfur. At least 10 AU soldiers are dead and the base has been evacuated and abandoned. Oh, and looted by Sudanese forces.

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 October.

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, AU peacekeepers told The Associated Press in Haskanita.

The remaining AU peacekeepers were evacuated from the base under the protection of the Sudanese army, who routed the rebels out of the area. Some government troops could be seen plundering goods from the burned-out camp as an AU armored vehicle lay smoldering nearby.

"This is the heaviest loss of life and the biggest attack on the African Union mission," said AU 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 early in September 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 during a visit to Rome, 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 increasingly hostile to the AU peacekeepers, saying the force is not neutral and favors the government side.

Saturday's raid represents the first time since the 7,000-strong AU mission was deployed in June 2004 that one of its bases has been overrun, though soldiers have been regularly attacked. Several ambushes of AU 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 AU officer said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called the storming of the base a "murderous and unacceptable act" and urged all parties in the conflict to show restraint.

I have no idea how accurate this information is, but Wikipedia has something about the Sudan Liberation Army that may indicate that some caution is in order when assessing what actually happened in Darfur:

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army  (abbreviated as either SLM or SLA) is a loose association of Sudanese rebel groups who fought against the Janjaweed militiamen and Sudanese government forces in the Darfur conflict. The Janjaweed are also responsible for widespread atrocities against Sudanese civilians in Darfur province.

Currently, it has largely divided into factions. The leader of the largest faction is Minni Minnawi and is now allied with the government. Other leaders of factions that continue fighting the government include Ahmed Abdulshafi Bassey and Abdulwahid Mohamed Nour who is largely supported by the people of Darfur. Minnawi is hated by many people of Darfur including people from his own Zaghawa tribe. The peace agreement that is signed by Minnawi's faction is widely rejected by the Darfurians and especially by the Fur, the largest ethnic group in Darfur.

If that is accurate, all may not be exactly as it appears here. It seems a bit conveniently timed that the "rebels" had enough manpower and time to overrun the base, then a Sudanese Army unit just happened to be in place - and strong enough - to force them to retreat. Something to think about.