国际英语新闻:UN chief condemns killings of peacekeepers in Darfur

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Sunday condemned an attack in Sudan's Darfur region, which led to killings of three Senegalese peacekeepers and injuring of one more of those working under the joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban offered his condolences to the families and friends of the fallen peacekeepers and expressed his deepest sympathies to the government of the Republic of Senegal.

According to information given by the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the peacekeepers were escorting a water convoy from the town of El Geneina to the UN mission's regional headquarters in West Darfur Sunday morning when an unidentified armed group ambushed them.

This incident occurred on the same road where a UNAMID patrol was ambushed a year ago and came just two days after unidentified armed assailants killed a Zambian military observer of the mission in North Darfur.

In the statement, Ban said that "all too often UNAMID peacekeepers are attacked and killed in the line of duty, while helping the Sudanese bring peace to Darfur."

The UN chief described the attack as unacceptable and urged the government of Sudan to bring those responsible to justice.

Established by the Security Council in 2007, UNAMID is in charge of, among other tasks, the protection of civilians and helping maintain security for humanitarian assistance in Darfur, where fighting between rebel groups and government forces and allied militia since 2003 has led to the deaths of about 300,000 people and caused nearly two million more to be displaced.

UNAMID peacekeepers have been attacked for several times in the past months. The deadliest attack occurred in July, when unidentified gunmen ambushed a peacekeeping team in Darfur, killing seven Tanzanian peacekeepers and injuring 17 others.