EUCOM, USAFE assist Darfur mission

Published March 13, 2006

KIGALI, Rwanda (USAFENS) -- U.S. European Command and U.S. Air Forces in Europe are providing contract airlift transport to members of the Rwandan Defense Forces as part of the African Union's mission in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

A small number of USAFE Airmen from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are providing logistics support to the mission based out of the Kigali International Airport. More than 1,200 Rwandan forces are anticipated to be airlifted from Kigali, Rwanda, to the Darfur region of the Sudan.

During several related missions in 2004 and 2005, USAFE used C-130s and contract airlift to ferry approximately 2500 Rwandan troops and more than 150,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the Darfur region.

The airlift is part of the larger multinational effort to improve security and create conditions in which humanitarian assistance can be more effectively provided to the people of Darfur.