KICUKIRO - Kigali International Airport was on Wednesday night filled with grief-stricken relatives of the recently deceased UN/AU peacekeepers in Darfur as the fallen soldiers’ bodies were flown in.

Five members of the Rwanda Defence Force serving under the UNAMID, died on Tuesday, July 8, when a convoy they were escorting fell into an ambush in Shangiya Tobaya, 40km south of El-Fasher in the Sudanese troubled area of Darfur.

Draped in AU/UN flags, five coffins of the fallen peacekeepers were carried from a UN aircraft at around 9 p.m. as the crestfallen mourners loudly wept for their loved ones.

Senior government officials and the Military High Command bowed and as they bade farewell to the deceased soldiers, while other mourners at the airport also paid their respects in a sombre mood.

The five brown coffins laid the remains of Cpl Bisukiro Nzitonda, Cpl Theogene Murindabigwi, Cpl Emmanuel Simpundu, Cpl Charles Kabera, and Pte. Janvier Burasiyo.

Speaking to The New Times, Sylvestre Samvura, brother-in-law to Theogene Murindabigwi said:"He has sacrificed his life in the name of providing peace. His family needs all the support it can get.”

"Rwanda has got peace because some people sacrificed their lives and others are doing the same to contribute to peace elsewhere.

I support Rwanda’s deployment in Sudan and I also consider my brother-in-law as a hero.” said Samvura, who is still a high school student.

Military Spokesman Maj. Jill Rutaremara said that the death of the five peacekeepers has not demoralised the others who are still serving in the UN/AU mission in Darfur.

Ends