Killing of peacekeeper does not deter UNAMID
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Peacekeepers of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)
The killing of a peacekeeper will not deter the joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) from protecting displaced people in the region.
That's what the UNAMID spokesman in the troubled region of Sudan said on Monday following the killing of a peacekeeper from Bangladesh in the mission's community policing centre.
Christopher Cycmanick says that the peacekeeper was killed and another injured when a gang fired on the centre inside the Otash camp for internally displaced people in Nyala, South Darfur.
He says 38 UNAMID peacekeepers have been killed since it was deployed in December 2007 but it will continue to carry out its mandate.
"You know, we have got a lot of challenges here but we will continue to conduct, on average about 200 patrols a day that go out. It's not a very usual thing when we lose a peacekeeper. So we are going to continue to do more things that we do best and that's patrolling. But in terms of our mandate we will continue to protect civilians and we will continue to have a strong presence in Darfur particularly for the vulnerable communities like the IDPs'." (Duration: 22)
The IDP's are the internally displaced people as a result of the civil war that broke out in 2003 between the government and its allied Janjaweed militia and armed rebels in Darfur.
