20110703
Reuters
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead an Ethiopian peacekeeper and injured one of his comrades in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday, his joint U.N/African Union mission said on Saturday.

Attackers opened fire on a U.N. van carrying the men from the airport outside El Geneina, capital of West Darfur state, to the town, the UNAMID peacekeeping mission said in a statement.

"This is the 29th peacekeeper killed since the mission was set up (at the beginning of 2008)," said UNAMID spokesman Kemal Saiki, adding he did not know why the attack took place.

"One officer was hit in the chest and ... died on his way to hospital."

Fighting flared in the remote western territory in 2003 after mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms against Khartoum, accusing it of marginalising the region.

Khartoum mobilised troops and mostly Arab militias to crush the uprising, unleashing a wave of violence called genocide by Washington and activists. Khartoum denies the charge.

The violence has died down since the mass killings reported in the early days of the conflict. But law and order have collapsed and the area has been hit by attacks by bandits, militias, troops, rival rebel factions and tribal groups.

The other peacekeeper, also an Ethiopian, was being treated in hospital, said Saiki.