Monday’s attack on the convoy was condemned in the strongest terms by the UN Security council. The Sudanese government has already acknowledged that its forces have shot at a UN convoy in West Darfur along with damaging an armored carrier, destroying a fuel tanker truck, and injuring a Sudanese driver.
As a result of the attack, the UN Security Council expressed that it is ready to take action against any party that disrupts the peace process, humanitarian aid, or deployment of the UN and African Union forces.
The mission by the UN in the Darfur region started on January 1. There are currently 9,000 peacekeepers and is supposed to increase to 26,000.
Over 200,000 people have died in the region along with 2.5 million fleeing the region to refugee camps ever since 2003. This is when ethnic African rebels took arms against the Arab-dominated government of Sudan under accusations of discrimination.
According to US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, there is no doubt that Sudan’s armed forces were behind the attack on the UN convoy.
He said: “You’ve got economic sanctions, you’ve got political sanctions, you’ve got military sanctions, and arms – embargoes on arms.”
US President George W. Bush has already imposed new US economic sanctions on Sudan’s oil industry. This is to pressure the government to stop the violence taking place in Darfur.
However, the suggestion was brushed off by Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, the UN ambassador to Sudan. He said that the council always threatens with actions that it rarely follows up on.