Six killed in clash between Sudanese police and SPLA

Nov 18, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Six people were killed during a clash between government police and militants of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) at a town near the Sudanese capital Khartoum, local daily Khartoum Monitor reported on Saturday.

The newspaper quoted a SPLA officer as saying that a soldier of the military group, which had been engaging in a rebel movement in southern Sudan and signed a peace deal with the Sudanese government in January, 2005, was killed in the clash in Jebel Aulia, some 100 km south of Khartoum, on Friday.

Major General Elias Wye, chairman of the Technical Committee of the Joint Integrated Unit (JIU) on the SPLA side, said five policemen were killed during the exchange of gunfire between a police patrol and SPLA soldiers serving under the JIU.

A statement issued by the Sudanese Ministry of Interior Affairs said five policemen were killed and another was seriously wounded in a clash between the police and what the statement called an “unidentified armed group”.

The statement said that during the shootout, the police killed one of the gunmen but did not reveal his identity.

(Xinhua)