SA soldier fatally shot in Sudan gunfight
A South African soldier was killed in a gunfight in Sudan yesterday while another one was seriously injured.
Corporal Benjamin Titus (34) – along with fellow troops from 10 South African Infantry Battalion, in Mafikeng, North West – was stationed at a water point near Kutum base when they were attacked on Wednesday night. Titus, a member of the SA contingent of the Darfur peacekeeping force, was guarding a well with eight others. It is possible that there only two assailants in the surprise attack.
A female SA soldier was wounded. She is in a stable condition in a military hospital in El Fasher, said Noureddine Mezni, spokesperson of the Unamid peacekeeping force.
Military sources in Khartoum were adamant that it was an “isolated incident”, and not part of a wider military offensive.
Sources in Darfur involved in UN projects said yesterday the morale of the SA peacekeepers was quite low. Unamid is supposed to have a staff of 26 000, but so far only 11 000 have been deployed.
SANDF chief, General Godfrey Ngwenya, said a board of inquiry has been established to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
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31 Octobre 2008 à 12:25 dans
- zsandf (anglais)
