UNAMID Force Commander Speaks to Troops after Run-In with Rebel Group

Peacekeepers from Senegal serving with the African Union-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) wait to receive Lieutenant General Patrick Nyamvumba, Force Commander of UNAMID, along with their pet sheep. Three days ago the Senegalese troops were blockaded by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in Shegeg Tovev, some 60 kilometres from the UNAMID team site in Umm Baru, North Darfur. The troops had been on patrol in Shegeg Tovev, accompanied by three police advisers and two language assistants, when more than one hundred JEM armed men blockaded the group, detaining the police advisers and language assistants. The peacekeeping troops refused to leave for two days until all UNAMID personnel could be reassembled.