African Union Troops killed in Darfur

Oct.1.- The commander of the new hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur has blamed a breakaway rebel faction for an attack that killed 10 African Union troops. African Union's General

Speaking from the scene of the attack, General Martin Agwai told the BBC it was a splinter group "who broke away from a faction called SLA United".

About 30 AU soldiers are missing and seven were badly injured in the raid, by heavily-armed men in 30 vehicles.
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Next year the UN and AU will jointly deploy the world's largest peacekeeping force - 26,000 troops - to Darfur.

It will absorb the current force of 7,000 AU troops, which has been struggling to protect civilians in the region. Desmond Tutu

Meanwhile, officials in Senegal have warned that the country's force in Darfur could be withdrawn following the attack.
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Meanwhile, a delegation of notable world figures led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu has arrived in Sudan for talks.

The archbishop is leading a delegation of "elders" that includes former UN envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi, former US President Jimmy Carter, and Graca Machel, a children's rights advocate and the wife of Nelson Mandela. ...

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