KIGALI - Two days after Darfur peace keepers were kidnapped and later released by armed militias is Sudan’s Darfur region, the Rwanda Defence Forces Spokesman; Maj Jill Rutaremara said that Rwanda’s forces are safe.

Agencies said at the weekend that unidentified gunmen ambushed a UNAMID patrol on Friday afternoon while  on its way to investigate reports of heavy fighting in Darfur’s central Jabel Mara region.

Rutaremara told The New Times last night that 64 Nigerian troops and one Rwandan Policeman had been kidnapped.
"64 Nigerians and one Rwandan policeman were kidnapped, though they were later released. All our troops are safe, there is no cause for alarm,” he said

News agencies reported at the weekend that hundreds of civilians are feared to have died in a surge of fighting between Sudan’s army and rebels in the mountainous Jabel Marra area. Sudan’s army denies involvement in fighting in the area.

The reported clashes with a faction of Darfur’s rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) came as Sudan’s government agreed to a ceasefire with another insurgent force in Qatar’s capital, Doha.

Rwanda mainains the second largest contigent in the volatile Darfur region, and the UN mission is currently headed by Rwanda’s Lt Gen Patrick Nyamvumba.

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