10 UN peacekeepers injured in Sudan's Darfur region

KHARTOUM - Ten peacekeepers of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) have been injured when their vehicle drove over an unexploded ordnance in Sudan's West Darfur, according to the mission spokesman Wednesday.

"This incident took place Friday when a patrol of the mission was on its way back to the mission base in al-Tina town, where some 35 km from the base the vehicle exploded," Ashraf Issa, UNAMID Spokesman, told Xinhua Wednesday.

"Primary information indicated that the vehicle drove over unexploded ordnance. Ten peacekeepers were injured, one of them was seriously injured," he noted.

He said the injured peacekeepers were first moved to the mission base in Al-Tina and then transported to the mission hospital in El Fasher, the capital city of North Darfur State.

He said UNAMID has informed the official authorities, pointing out that an investigation is underway.

UNAMID was deployed in Darfur in 2008, with about 24,000 personnel, to keep peace in the region which has been suffering from a civil war since 2003.

Since its deployment, peacekeepers in the mission have experienced several attacks by unidentified groups, with more than 53 of them killed.