TANZANIAN FALLEN PEACEKEEPERS ACCORDED A HEROES SEND OFF IN DARFUR

By Saidi Msonda, Darfur

Hundreds of UNAMID Sector South HQ staff members led by
Head of Office Mr. Imtiaz Hussain today attended a brief ceremony at the Pakistan
Level III Hospital in Nyala to pay their final respects to the
seven Tanzanian peacekeepers who were killed near Khor Abeche in an ambush by
unidentified gunmen on Saturday 13 July 2013. Their bodies were flown today to
Khartoum en route to Tanzania.

Top Sector leadership led by Mr. Hussain (3^rd R)

UNAMID JSR Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas along with Acting Force Commander Lt. Gen. Wynjones Kisamba and Police Commissioner Ms. Hester Adriana Paneras visited the other 17 injured peacekeepers at the same Hospital yesterday. The Mission leadership and the UNSG Ban Ki-moon have condemned the act and called for the Government of Sudan to bring the perpetrators of the “heinous” act to justice.Meanwhile, according to press reports, Tanzanian President JakayaKikwete expressed his deep shock
following the incident and he sent condolences to the Tanzania People’s Defense Forces (TPDF) and the bereaved families.

Capt. John Kivunge, a Tanzanian Staff Officer with JOC, reads a program of the brief ceremony

He wished quick recovery for the injured soldiers, saying: “I don’t have a lot of words to express my shock and sadness on the soldiers who died while on a very important mission of United Nations, on keeping peace in an area where thousands of people have been killed…” Mr. Kikwete said in a statement issued by the Directorate of Presidential Communications yesterday, adding; “since the fallen servicemen and women were deployed in Darfur in February this year and since Tanzania started deploying troops in 2007, they have
done a good work and the country is proud of them”.

A portion of staff members at the ceremony

The TPDF Spokesperson, Lt. Col. KapambalaMgawe, said during a press conference yesterday that a special delegation has been sent to Khartoum and Darfur to talk with the authorities over the incident. Tanzania has a battalion of about 850 peacekeepers in Darfur located at Khor Abeche and Menawashi, South Darfur State.