KHARTOUM: A helicopter belonging to the joint United Nations-African Union force in the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur was shot at yesterday, but there were no reports of casualties, UNAMID said. “About 30 minutes into the flight and 90 kilometers northwest of Geneina (in West Darfur), the pilot heard shots being fired,” spokesman Noureddine Mezni told AFP.
“The pilot aborted the mission and returned to Geneina,” he said, adding that no casualties had been reported. It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack on the helicopter, which was carrying crew and one passenger.
Sudanese security officers confirmed the incident and pointed the finger at Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, which last May staged an unprecedented attack on Khartoum. JEM members contacted by AFP either knew nothing about the shooting or were unavailable for comment.
The incident came on the day that US special envoy for Sudan, Richard Williamson, held talks with senior peacekeeping leaders at their headquarters in Darfur.
Meanwhile, thousands of Sudanese villagers have refused to leave homes due to be flooded this year by a $2 billion dam designed to double Sudan’s electricity supply, a representative of the villagers said yesterday. Tens of thousands of villagers have already been displaced by the Chinese-built Merowe Dam on the River Nile, needed to supply fast growing power demand to the oil-fueled economy.
But villagers from the Manaseer area, 350 km north of the capital Khartoum, said new houses built for them by the government were too far from the river and would not have the water needed to sustain their agriculture.
“This is our area and we don’t want to leave it,” said Rashid Taha, a member of the committee representing those affected in Manaseer, who had come to Khartoum to plead their case.
