African Union to bolster troop numbers

THE African Union plans to send more troops into Sudan to reinforce its extended Darfur peacekeeping mission, an AU spokesman said yesterday.

“Seven thousand troops are not enough to deal with implementation of the DPA,” Noureddine Mezni said in reference to the Darfur Peace Agreement signed between the Sudanese government and one Darfur rebel faction in May. “It will be a matter of battalions. I cannot specify how many battalions we are going to bring, but we are going to increase the number of troops.” A battalion is usually composed of 600 to 800 soldiers.

The African Union’s mandate in Darfur had been set to expire on September 30 and the pan-African body said it could not continue beyond October because it was out of money and needed more equipment such as helicopters.