VZCZCXRO5354
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1983 2321649
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201649Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4231
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 001983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: MOPS KPKO PREL PREF UN SU
SUBJECT:  UNMIS Joint Monitoring Team Attacked near Malakal 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:  According to the United Nations Mission in Sudan 
(UNMIS), a UNMIS Joint Monitoring Team was attacked on August 17 in 
the vicinity of Malakal, Southern Sudan.  Two UNMIS Force Protection 
soldiers and a Sudanese Armed Forces National Monitor were 
reportedly injured.  The UN has strongly condemned the attack.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2.  The UNMIS press release is as follows: 
 
(Begin text) 
 
Office of the Spokesperson 
 
Press Release No. 34/06 
 
 
The UN strongly condemns attack on a Joint Monitoring Team near 
Malakal as a serious violation of the Ceasefire. 
 
20 August 2006, Khartoum-Juba-Malakal:  The United Nations Mission 
in Sudan (UNMIS) condemns the deliberate attack by unidentified 
armed men on a Joint Monitoring Team on 17 August in the area of 
Phom El Zeraf, near Malakal.  Two UNMIS Force Protection soldiers 
and a Sudanese Armed Forces National Monitor were injured in the 
attack. 
 
The Joint Monitoring Team, comprising three UN Military Observers, 
two National Monitors, one interpreter and a UN Force Protection 
Team composed of one Officer and five soldiers, was patrolling the 
River Nile between Malakal and Phom El Zeraf on Fast Patrol Boats 
when it came under small arms fire from the Southern bank of the 
River near Dor.  The injured were evacuated to the level II Indian 
Contingent hospital in Malakal and their condition is stable. 
 
The Ceasefire Joint Military Commission, which was meeting in Juba 
at the time, was immediately informed of the attack, which it 
condemned, and the Malakal Area Joint Military Committee has started 
a detailed investigation to identify the perpetrators of the attack 
and bring them to justice. 
 
The parties to the CPA are responsible for the safety and security 
of the Mission's personnel, and for definitively resolving the issue 
of the Other Armed Groups (OAGs) within the OAGs Collaborative 
Committee. 
 
UNMIS considers the attack on the Joint Monitoring Team a serious 
violation of the Ceasefire, and calls on the two parties to the CPA 
to ensure that the perpetrators are held to account, and that such 
incidents do not occur in the future. 
 
(End text) 
 
HUME