UN helicopter comes under fire in Darfur

UN helicopter comes under fire in DarfurNairobi/Khartoum  - A United Nations-African Union helicopter has come under fire while on a peacekeeping mission in the restive Sudanese province of Darfur, reports said Monday.

A spokesman for the joint mission in Darfur UNAMID said that the aircraft was hit by gunfire, which damaged the radio system but caused no injuries, the BBC reported.

The helicopter was forced to return to its base in El Geneina, however.

Peacekeepers have come under increasing attack in recent months, with the most vicious strike claiming the lives of seven African Union troops in July.

The notorious Arab Janjaweed militia were suspected of being the perpetrators of the earlier attack, but it was not clear who fired on the helicopter.

Concerns were raised in July that attacks on UNAMID staff would increase after the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) asked for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir on war crimes charges.

The joint mission in the restive western province is under strength, with less than 10,000 of the planned 26,000 military personnel in place, and is struggling to fulfill its peacekeeping role.

The conflict in Darfur began when black tribesmen took up arms against what they called decades of neglect and discrimination by the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in Khartoum.

The UN says up to 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced by five years of conflict.

The Sudanese government has been accused of using the Janjaweed militia to commit atrocities against Darfur's black population and suppress the rebels. (dpa)

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