FASHER, Sudan, Oct 30, SPA-- Rwandan troops arrived in Sudan's remote Darfur region on Saturday to join soldiers monitoring a shaky ceasefire there, officials said. The troops are among around 3,300 due to arrive from several countries in an expanded African Union mission there. The AU troops hope to help rejuvenate an April ceasefire between rebels and government forces in the region. The 65 Rwandans, with military equipment and food, were flown by U.S. military aircraft, which transported 50 Nigerians to Darfur on Thursday. A total of 237 soldiers are expected to leave the Rwandan capital Kigali for Darfur in the next five days. They will join some 155 Rwandan soldiers who arrived in Darfur on Aug. 15. The expanded AU force will support some 150 ceasefire monitors and 300 troops already in the region, and will have a new mandate including some powers to protect civilians. Previously, the force could only monitor the ceasefire. The Nigerians expect to deploy another 350 soldiers over the next few weeks. Other troops are expected to be sent from other, as-yet unspecified countries.
