KICUKIRO - The exercise to airlift support equipment to the Rwanda Defence Forces peacekeeping contingent in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur resumed yesterday.

The equipment that was airlifted from Kigali International Airport included 78 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), seven ambulances and seven fully equipped Level One mobile hospitals that will be distributed among the four Rwandan battalions deployed in Darfur.

The Rwandan forces, estimated at 3,500 troops are deployed in Darfur under the auspices of the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), a hybrid force that was established to restore peace in the devastated region.

Other equipment that were airlifted yesterday include cooking equipment, water processing tanks and machines, washing machines, office and communication equipment and many other commercial, military support, and engineering vehicles.

According to the RDF in-charge of Support Operations, Lt. Col Peter Kalimba, the airlifting is a continuation process after the one that had earlier been conducted by the US-Africa Command.

"This process is being conducted by UN and started on March 10, and would end around March 25,” said Kalimba.

RDF troops have been deployed in Sudan since 2004 but the number was increased last year after the UN joined forces with the AU.

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