Darfur rebels SLA claim 80 govt troops killed

Sept 21, 2005 (CAIRO) — Darfur’s main rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) claimed Wednesday its forces had killed 80 government troops and captured a new city during a massive operation in western Sudan.

“The SLA won control Monday of the town of Sheiria in southern Darfur, inflicting heavy losses to the enemy estimated at 80 killed in the ranks of the government forces,” said a statement.

The rebel group said it had seized a significant quantity of ammunition and military equipment during the battle, which was believed to involve several hundred armed rebels.

The rebels captured the whole area of Khazzan Jedid during the same raid, the statement said, adding that the operation was in response “to the escalation of violence and repeated aggressions by the government.”

The fighting comes as talks sponsored by the African Union between rebel factions and Khartoum are under way in Nigeria in a bid to end the 30-month-old civil war in the western Sudanese region.

The unrest threatens a larger peace process between Khartoum and former rebels from the south, who formed a national unity government on Tuesday.

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) has split in recent months. The SLM’s chairman is taking part in the Abuja talks, but a rival faction that includes several party heavyweights and much of the military wing has stayed behind.

Up to 300,000 people have died in Darfur since the begining of the rebellion in February 2003, while more than two million others have been displaced, sparking one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

(AFP/ST)