Darfur Peacekeepers Missing in Sudan Floods

{{Four peacekeepers are missing in Sudan’s Darfur region after being swept away by floods, a UN official has said}}.

The peacekeepers were escorting an aid convoy when a “powerful current” swept them away, Rania Abdulrahman told media.

Another two peacekeepers were found alive by a rescue team, she said.

More than 300,000 people across Sudan have been affected by floods that have killed nearly 50 people in August, the World Health Organization has said.

The region around the capital Khartoum had been particularly badly hit and was experiencing the worst floods in 25 years, it said.

The joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Unamid, is one of the largest in the world, with about 20,000 soldiers and police.

The peacekeepers were en route to Misterei, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south-west of the regional capital Geneina, with a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy when a flash flood hit, Ms Abdulrahman said.

“The incident occurred while the peacekeepers attempted to pull out their truck which was stuck in the mud of a river valley,” she said.

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