{Tanzania Army spokesman Col. Kapambala Mgawe addresses the media in Dar es Salaam }
{{Tanzania is seeking to persuade the United Nations to allow its peacekeeping forces to use deadly force and heavy weapons to defend themselves when under attack.}}
The development came just a day after seven Tanzanian soldiers who were part of the UN Mission in Darfur (Unamid) were killed and 17 others injured.
Both the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma condemned the attack, but the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) believes the death toll would not have been as high if the troops were allowed to use deadly force to defend themselves.
“We are only allowed to use armoured personnel carriers under Chapter VI. This puts our troops in danger in such volatile areas like Darfur. We are seeking permission for Unamid to be allowed to use heavier weapons, including tanks,” TPDF spokesman Colonel Kapambala Mgawe told The Citizen yesterday on the sidelines of a briefing on the Darfur tragedy.
Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council’s powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to “determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression” and to take military and non-military action to “restore international peace and security”. This allows the use of heavier military equipment for defensive purposes.
However, Chapter VI, despite having the same purpose of maintaining peace, puts more emphasis on peaceful settlement of disputes and allows only the use of light firearms for defence.
The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which also involves Tanzanian troops, is well equipped and uses helicopter gunships and other heavy weapons.
The Tanzanian soldiers were attacked by gunmen about 25 kilometres west of a Unamid base at Khor Abeche, north of the South Darfur state capital of Nyala on Saturday.
NMG
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