UN peace officer killed in Darfur

Only 9,000 troops of a planned 26,000-strong force have been deployed

A Ugandan officer serving with the joint United Nations-African Union force (Unamid) in Sudan's Darfur region has been found dead in his vehicle.

A spokesman for the mission said the officer's body was found with bullet wounds on Wednesday.

The officer, who had been working as a police adviser with the force, was killed in El Fasher, North Darfur.

He is the first Unamid peacekeeper to be killed since the UN took joint control of the force in January.

Since the conflict began in Darfur five years ago, the UN estimates that some 300,000 have died and 2m have fled their homes.

Shock

"We are peacekeepers. We are not here to participate in conflict, so it is a shock to receive news of what happened," Unamid spokesman Noureddine Mezni said.

The force is investigating the circumstances of the officer's death, he said.

Nothing was taken from the officer's car, but the spokesman said that it was too early to make conclusions about the incident.

Since January the UN-AU force has not been able to bring peace to the region.

It has just 9,000 of the planned 26,000 troops.

The conflict began when rebels took up arms in protest at alleged government discrimination against the region.

Pro-government Arab militias have been accused of widespread atrocities against the black African population.

But the rebel groups have split into numerous different factions, making a settlement difficult.