U.N. condemns deadly Darfur attack

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U.N. chief Ban condemns attack, urges parties to prepare for peace talks

10 AU peacekeepers killed in Saturday's assault; 10 injured; 30 still missing

AU peacekeepers number 7,000; U.N. has OK'd 26,000 peacekeeper force

U.N. and Sudanese government have invited rebels to October peace talks


   
(CNN) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed outrage after rebels killed at least 10 African Union soldiers in an unprecented attack on a peacekeeping base in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur.

An African Union spokesman told CNN the casualties were the heaviest suffered by the peacekeeping force since its deployment in 2004.

Some 30 peacekeepers were still missing from Saturday's assault on the Haskanita base and a further 10 wounded, Assana Ba told CNN.

Condemning the attack "in the strongest possible terms," Ban urged all parties to "recommit" to a peaceful resolution to the conflict and to prepare for peace talks in Libya in October.

The attack coincided with the arrival in Sudan on Sunday of Nobel laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter among a peace delegation seeking to help negotiate a lasting settlement ending the regional conflict.

The initiative is the first mission by Nelson Mandela's "Elders" group since its foundation to mark the former South African president and anti-Apartheid campaigner's 89th birthday in July.

Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and former U.N. envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi are also among delegates.

"We have come here to the Sudan because we want to listen to the voices of those who have not been heard and want to explore ways that we can lend our own voices to peace." Tutu said at a news conference, shortly after arriving.

After meeting with government and opposition leaders in Khartoum, the delegates will head to Darfur this week before wrapping up their trip on Friday.

AU officers told The Associated Press that Saturday's attack was carried out by 1,000 rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army.

"We battled for hours, but when we ran out of ammunition, we took refuge in this ditch," a Nigerian peacekeeper who identified himself as Aboubakar told AP.

The camp where the attack took place was riddled with the marks of bullet and mortar fire and strewn with charred armoured vehicles and burnt out tents, AP reported.

Other peacekeepers appeared shocked by the scale of the assault and said the attackers had been armed with armored vehicles and rocket-propelled grenades. AU troops carrying their belongings were being evacuated by helicopter as Sudanese soldiers stood guard.

Although it was "too early to say who launched the attack," AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Said Djinnit said initial indications show the perpetrators were affiliated with one of the many rebel groups that did not sign an AU-brokered peace agreement in May 2006. Watch Djinnit talk about the attacks »

Only one rebel group signed the peace agreement which has done little to stop the fighting between government-backed militias and rebel groups estimated by the U.N. to have killed more than 200,000 people and driven about two million from their homes in the past four years.

"We are of the strong opinion here that once identified, those responsible for this attack should bear all consequences," Djinnit said.

"There must be some political and legal consequences from this deliberate attack."

A senior AU officer told AP, "There is a war going on between the rebels and the government, and the AU is crunched in the middle."

About two months ago the U.N. Security Council authorized a 26,000-member peacekeeping mission in Darfur, more than tripling the AU-led force there.

The "hybrid" force of U.N. and AU troops and police -- which will be under AU command -- is scheduled to take over for the current force by the end of the year, according to the United Nations.

The peacekeeping force, which will be known as UNAMID, will be the world's largest peacekeeping operation, according to the United Nations.

The current AU force of about 7,000 has been unable to stop the violence, and Sudan agreed to allow a bigger peacekeeping force after massive international pressure.