17th Air Force to airlift equipment to Darfur region C-17s to carry U.N. vehicles

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17th Air Force to airlift equipment to Darfur region C-17s to carry U.N. vehicles
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, January 13, 2009

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Three months after officially taking over the air component of U.S. Africa Command, 17th Air Force is overseeing its first major operation on the African continent.

On Monday, two C-17s from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., were en route to Ramstein, where air crews were to receive intelligence, safety and mission briefings from 17th Air Force staff before heading to Kigali, Rwanda.

The transport planes will be used to airlift nine 21,000-ton multi-use U.N.-marked trucks and other heavy equipment into Sudan’s Darfur region.

There has been unrest in the region since rebels took up arms in Darfur in early 2003, citing neglect and marginalization by the central government.

Attempts to bring the warring parties to the negotiating table or to broker cease-fires have failed, and so far up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes.


Rest of Africom article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59964