Ramstein planes, Airmen depart for Darfur mission

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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFPN) --  Three C-130 Hercules from the 86th Airlift Wing and about 40 Airmen here left July 16 for Kigali, Rwanda, to begin a monthlong airlift mission to the Darfur region of Sudan.

The mission is part of NATO’s response to support the African Union’s expanded peacekeeping mission in Darfur with logistics and training, officials said.

About 150 Airmen from here and Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, with additional strategic support from U.S. Transportation Command, will rotate about 1,200 Rwandan troops from Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to Al-Fashir, Sudan.

The U.S. 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. The Darfur region has been a scene of conflict mainly between the Janjaweed, a government-supported militia recruited from local Arab tribes, and the non-Arab people of the region.

NATO Secretary Gen. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced June 9 that the alliance would help the African Union expand its peacekeeping force in Darfur from 3,300 to about 7,700.

U.S. European Command began deploying Airmen and equipment to Rwanda on July 14.

About 120 U.S. Air Forces in Europe Airmen and two C-130 aircraft from here deployed to Africa in October to conduct a similar mission. By the end of the mission, the C-130s had transported about 352 African Union troops and 118,000 pounds of cargo.