Govt forces says they have beaten back rebel attack in eastern Sudan

KHARTOUM, Sudan, June 21, 2005 (AP) — Sudan said Monday its forces had beaten off a rebel attack in eastern Sudan in which insurgents from the western Darfur region took part.

A Beja man rides his camel in the rebel-controlled area of Eastern Sudan, near the border with Eritrea in this picture taken June 4, 2005. (Reuters).

The United Nations mission in Sudan said it had received reports of a rebel attack, and there were reportedly casualties on both sides.

“The armed forces have countered a treacherous attack led by forces belonging to the Justice and Equality Movement and the Beja Congress, backed by foreign parties, against the outpost of Dolibo-Yei of the Toker military garrison at 1300 hours on Sunday,” a military statement said.

The Justice and Equality Movement is one of the Darfur rebel groups currently conducting peace talks with the Khartoum government through African Union mediation in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Its spokesmen could not be reached for comment because of the late hour.

The Beja Congress is a rebel group from the Beja tribe, a non-Arab people in eastern Sudan. Beja members have recently staged anti-government demonstrations in the Port Sudan area.

The Toker garrison lies south of Port Sudan, the main city on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

In its Sudan situation report for Monday, the U.N. mission said that on Sunday “reports indicate that Beja Congress attacked an army post in Delabiyay. The army managed to repel the attack.”

The United Nations said nothing about any involvement by the Justice and Equality Movement. It said UN-rented trucks carrying food had been in the area at the time of the attack, but they emerged unscathed.

The military statement did not name the “foreign parties” whom it claimed to be backing the rebels, but Sudan has recent accusing its southeastern neighbor, Eritrea, of supporting the rebel forces. The Government refused to allow Eritrea to be part of the mediating team at the Abuja peace talks.

The statement said the armed forces were able to “completely control” the attack and were now pursuing the rebels. It said government forces suffered no casualties. It did not give a figure for rebel casualties.

The largest country in Africa, Sudan has various levels of anti-government conflict in its south, west and east. A peace was signed between the northern government and southern rebels in January, ending a civil war that started in 1983. There have intermittent attacks in the east, and a two-year rebellion and counter-insurgency in the western region of Darfur — where at least 180,000 people have died and about 2 million have fled their homes.