By Khalfan Said, 15th July 2013
The seven were killed last Saturday, when unidentified gunmen attacked them, injuring 17 others, 14 of them Tanzanians. TPDF is communicating with the bereaved families as part of funeral arrangements and plans to fly back the bodies, Col Kapambala Mgawe who is TPDF’s Director of Information and Public Relations said yesterday.
Mgawe said the TPDF team going to Darfur will establish whether the UN “should guarantee maximum force” to peace keeping forces in the region.
He said contrary to the UN peacekeeping team in Eastern DR Congo, the UN team in Darfur is restricted by the UN Charter chapter VI which emphasises peaceful settlement of disputes.
He said under the chapter, the peacekeeping team is restricted to negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration and judicial process in its quest to restore peace in a disputed territory.
Colonel Mgawe told The Guardian over a telephone interview that TPDF and other African troops in DRC operate under chapter VII of the UN resolution which not only renewed the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo for one year, but also created a special UN brigade that will fight armed groups, rather than merely defend civilians.
“In DRC the troops can use heavy weaponry like tanks and missiles while in Darfur, the peace keepers are not allowed with the UN mandate under chapter VI, which gave them mandate as peace keepers only,” explained Colonel Mgawe.
A contingent of about 100 Tanzanian soldiers is in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of the United Nations mission aimed at neutralizing armed groups in the trouble area.
“In DR Congo, the militia operates under the UN Charter Chapter VII” which guarantees the use of military and nonmilitary actions as they determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression to restore international peace and security,” he explained.
“We think it’s high time the UN changed its chapter under which the forces operate in Darfur, particularly change from chapter six to chapter seven to grant the peacekeeping teams power to defend themselves against assailants,” he added.
He expounded that on the material day, a team of 36 UNAMID peacekeepers including police officers and one official were attacked by an unidentified group some 20 killometres from the UNAMID base.
The mission team was tasked to escort military observers from Khor Abeche to Nyale.
After the attack, bodies of the deceased soldiers were taken and preserved at Nyale Hospital in Darfur, while the injured including one police field officer from Tanzania were taken to Nyale hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile President Jakaya Kikwete who is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces has expressed shock and sadness at the killings and sent condolences to the TPDF and the bereaved families.
According to a press statement availed to The Guardian yesterday by State House the President in his condolence message to TPDF Chief of Defence Forces Davis Mwamunyange and families which lost their relatives: “I have no words to express the shock and sadness following the death of our soldiers who were performing important duty in the part of world where many people have lost lives due to attacks by rebels.”
The president also said he was praying for speedy recovery of the injured, so that they could proceed with their peacekeeping mission.
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation deputy minister Mahadhi Juma Maalim said yesterday that the Tanzanian government is studying the situation in Darfur and will notify families of the slain soldiers.
UN spokesman, Martin Nesirky said the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denounced the killings and sent his deepest condolences to the bereaved and the Tanzanian government.
"The Secretary General was outraged to learn of the deadly attack on peacekeepers in Darfur which occurred this morning," said Nesirky.
"The Secretary General condemns this heinous attack on UNAMID, the third to happen in three weeks, and expects the government of Sudan to take swift actions to bring the perpetrators to justice… UNAMID Chief Mohamed Ibn Chambas also condemned this atrocious attack," he added.
About 50 UNAMID team members have died in hostile actions since the mission began late 2007. Before the Saturday's attack, six peacekeepers had already been killed in Darfur since October.
However, despite repeated calls from the UN for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, UN sources say they are unaware of anyone having been held accountable in Sudan for killing a peacekeeper.
In April, a Nigerian peacekeeper was killed and two others wounded in an assault at their base in the East of Nyala.
Authorities denied claims from local sources that the attack appeared to have been planned and carried out by government-linked forces.
Earlier this year, a UN panel of experts reported that former government militiamen sometimes expressed their discontent with the current government by "direct attacks on UNAMID staff and premises.
Rebels have been fighting in Darfur for 10 years and have contributed to some of the unrest this year.
Chief Chambas blamed inter-ethnic conflicts for most of the violence, which has displaced an estimated 300,000 people this year which is more than the number in the last two years combined.
Source: IPPMEDIA
