NEW YORK, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The Sudanese government was behind attacks by Janjaweed fighters who killed or wounded more than two dozen U.N. peacekeepers last year, a report charges.
The report, commissioned by the U.N. Security Council, said an investigation of the attacks concluded "it is highly probable" Khartoum continues to support many Janjaweed groups, the Sudan Tribune reported Sunday.
Attacks by fighters in April and July against a coalition of African Union and U.N. peacekeeping troops known as UNAMID "fit the profile of well-known Janjaweed elements," the report said.
An attack on a UNAMID site in Muhajiriya on April 19 killed one solder and injured two others. An ambush of a UNAMID patrol near Khor Abeche on July 13 killed eight officers and wounded 16.
The report outlined several reasons for the allegations against the Sudanese government, including a visit by government soldiers in control of the area around Muhajiriya just before and after the attack, Khartoum was aware the UNAMID forces were under strength, and the attack could not have gone unnoticed by government security forces near the peacekeepers' base.
While acknowledging some Janjaweed groups may have acted on their own, the report accused Sudan because "it is highly probable that it continues to arm, support, use or tolerate many of the Janjaweed factions."
The report added it had no evidence linking rebel groups to the attacks.
