UNMIS Joint Monitoring Team Attacked near Malakal

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001983

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: MOPS KPKO PREL PREF UN SU
SUBJECT: UNMIS Joint Monitoring Team Attacked near Malakal



1. Summary: According to the United Nations Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS),a UNMIS Joint Monitoring Team was attacked on August 17 in
the vicinity of Malakal, Southern Sudan. Two UNMIS Force Protection
soldiers and a Sudanese Armed Forces National Monitor were
reportedly injured. The UN has strongly condemned the attack. End
Summary.


2. The UNMIS press release is as follows:

(Begin text)

Office of the Spokesperson

Press Release No. 34/06


The UN strongly condemns attack on a Joint Monitoring Team near
Malakal as a serious violation of the Ceasefire.

20 August 2006, Khartoum-Juba-Malakal: The United Nations Mission
in Sudan (UNMIS) condemns the deliberate attack by unidentified
armed men on a Joint Monitoring Team on 17 August in the area of
Phom El Zeraf, near Malakal. Two UNMIS Force Protection soldiers
and a Sudanese Armed Forces National Monitor were injured in the
attack.

The Joint Monitoring Team, comprising three UN Military Observers,
two National Monitors, one interpreter and a UN Force Protection
Team composed of one Officer and five soldiers, was patrolling the
River Nile between Malakal and Phom El Zeraf on Fast Patrol Boats
when it came under small arms fire from the Southern bank of the
River near Dor. The injured were evacuated to the level II Indian
Contingent hospital in Malakal and their condition is stable.

The Ceasefire Joint Military Commission, which was meeting in Juba
at the time, was immediately informed of the attack, which it
condemned, and the Malakal Area Joint Military Committee has started
a detailed investigation to identify the perpetrators of the attack
and bring them to justice.

The parties to the CPA are responsible for the safety and security
of the Mission's personnel, and for definitively resolving the issue
of the Other Armed Groups (OAGs) within the OAGs Collaborative
Committee.

UNMIS considers the attack on the Joint Monitoring Team a serious
violation of the Ceasefire, and calls on the two parties to the CPA
to ensure that the perpetrators are held to account, and that such
incidents do not occur in the future.

(End text)

HUME