[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Tuesday ordered two Darfur [JURIST news archive] rebel leaders to stand trial [press release] for war crimes. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain (Banda) and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus (Jerbo) are suspected in connection with the September 2007 attack on African Union (AU) [official website] peacekeeping troops at Haskanita [BBC backgrounder], which resulted in the death of 12 peacekeepers. They are charged with three war crimes: violence to life and attempted violence to life; intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units and vehicles involved in a peacekeeping mission; and pillaging. The men surrendered to the ICC in June and agreed not to contest the charges [JURIST reports] at a confirmation of charges hearing.

This will be the ICC’s first trial for crimes committed in the Sudan’s Darfur region. A third rebel leader, Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, was charged by the ICC earlier this year [case materials] in connection with the attack, but the charges were dropped [JURIST report] due to lack of evidence. Two other suspects, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir [JURIST news archive], remain at large. Bashir was charged with genocide [JURIST report] in July.