Rwandan troops will use force if necessary to protect civilians in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said while bidding farewell to dozens of soldiers going to guard unarmed military observers monitoring a ceasefire in the area.
A dozen troops were airlifted to Darfur on Saturday aboard a cargo aircraft carrying armored personnel carriers, arms, ammunition and other military supplies for the troops, said Colonel Patrick Karegeya, the Rwandan defense spokesman. The bulk of the force of 154 soldiers were to leave yesterday, he said.
The troops are the first foreign military force deployed in Darfur since Arab militiamen began attacking black African farmers in the region, forcing more than 1 million people to flee their homes and leaving at least 2.2 million in urgent need of food and other relief aid.
Their mission is to help protect at least 80 unarmed military observers monitoring a shaky ceasefire between government forces and rebel troops.
But Kagame said the troops were prepared to use force to defend civilians.
"Our forces will not stand by and watch innocent civilians being hacked to death like the case was here in 1994," Kagame said, referring to United Nations troops who did. "Fifty people cannot go to bring peace to a country many times bigger than Rwanda,'' he added.
Rwandan troops are part of a 300-strong African force Sudan was pressed to allow into Darfur, where thousands have been killed and some 2.2 million are in urgent need of aid, according to the UN.
It was not immediately clear when Nigerian troops would be sent to Darfur as part of the force.
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