Two unidentified gunmen carjacked a vehicle last night from United Nations-African Union (AU) peacekeeping operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the mission in the violence-torn region of Sudan reported today.

The driver of the vehicle, an international UN staff member, was unhurt by the two armed men who stole the car in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Over the past month, UNAMID has reported a rise in attacks on peacekeeping staff, carjacking, other banditry, and harassment of civilians in Darfur.

There has also been concern over the safety of humanitarian workers, many of whom have been ordered to leave the region following the indictment on 4 March of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the region.

Speaking to reporters in New York today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated that the situation in Sudan has been one of his top priorities, particularly humanitarian issues in the wake of the ouster of the aid groups.

“I have made a sincere appeal and also urged many African and Arab leaders to influence President Bashir to reverse the decision to expel humanitarian workers,” he said, following a briefing to the General Assembly on his recent travels, which included a stop in Doha for the Arab League Summit.

Meanwhile, in the past day UNAMID conducted 22 confidence-building patrols, 19 escort patrols and five night patrols covering 35 villages and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The mission’s police also conducted close to 100 patrols in and around villages and IDP camps.

As part of its capacity building efforts, UNAMID police began a five-day training programme in criminal investigation for Sudanese police in Nyala, South Darfur.

UNAMID was set up by the Security Council to protect civilians in Darfur, where an estimated 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million have been forced from their homes since fighting erupted in 2003, pitting rebels against Government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen.

More than one year on from transferring the task of suppressing the violence to UNAMID from the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS), over 12,000 of the 19,555 military personnel authorized by the Security Council are in place across Darfur.