Pro-govt media accuse Darfur rebels of killing 12 villagers

KHARTOUM, May 21 (AFP) — Ethnic minority rebels in Darfur killed 12 villagers and wounded five in a bloody cattle-rustling raid in the war-torn western region, the pro-government Sudan Media Centre charged Saturday.

Teenage Sudan Liberation Army fighters wearing amulets (believed to bring good luck and protect against evil the person who wears them) look on while in the rebel held village of Bodong in North Darfur, March 3, 2005. (Reuters).

The fighters from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) attacked Sania Reel village in South Darfur state on Wednesday, using four-wheel drive pick-up trucks with guns mounted on them, the news agency said.

They stole some 150 head of cattle and when the villagers gave chase, they opened fire on them before returning to torch their homes, it added.

Officials from the SLM, one of two rebel groups which launched an armed uprising more than two years ago, were not immediately available for comment.

The Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum responded to the rebellion by unleashing Arab militias in a scorched-earth campaign that prompted the UN Security Council last month to demand war crimes trials before the International Criminal Court of 51 named suspects, including high officials.

As many as 300,000 people have died in the conflict, and a further 2.4 million fled their homes, according to a British parliamentary report.