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| July 12, 2008 |
Briefing by UN Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guéhenno
makes clear that extremely heavily armed Janjaweed militia, Khartoum’s
military proxy, attacked the UN/African Union forces in North Darfur
(July 8, 2008)
Eric Reeves
July 12, 2008
On July 8, 2008, at approximately 2:45pm local time, heavily armed
Janjaweed militia attacked a joint police and military patrol of the
UN/African Union Mission in Sudan (UNAMID) in an area approximately 100
kilometers southeast of el-Fasher, near the village of Umm Hakibah
(North Darfur). In a firefight that lasted approximately three hours,
seven UNAMID troops and police were killed and twenty-two were injured,
seven of these critically. Ten vehicles were destroyed or taken during
the attack. Although there was initial uncertainty about the identity
of the attacking force, this uncertainty has been eliminated in the
course of a preliminary investigation. In addition to various published
reports, UN Undersecretary for Peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guéhenno,
offered a compelling July 11, 2008 briefing to the UN Security Council
in closed session, making a number of telling observations that point
unambiguously to Janjaweed forces as those responsible:
[1] Guéhenno told the Security Council that the attack on
UN-authorized peacekeepers “took place in an area under Sudanese
government control and that some of the assailants were dressed in
clothing similar to Sudanese army uniforms. He also said the ambush was
‘pre-meditated and well-organized’ and was intended to inflict
casualties rather than to steal equipment or vehicles” (Voice of
America [dateline: UN/New York], July 11, 2008). The peacekeepers
attacked reported seeing approximately 200 fighters, many on horses---a
signature feature of the Janjaweed (Arabic for “devil [or spirit] on
horseback”).