Rebel field commander killed in battle in western Sudan: government

KHARTOUM, Jan 8 (AFP) — The field commander of a rebel group in western Sudan was killed in a major battle with Sudanese government troops earlier this week, North Darfur state’s governor said.

Osman Yusuf Kibir told the SUNA news agency that Abdallah Abbaker, commander of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), was killed “in a fierce battle over Abugamrah, which the (government) armed forces managed to retake.”

He told the state-run news agency that Abbaker was killed the “day before yesterday”, without giving a date. Many other rebels were killed or captured, according to the governor.

Government sources said the commander died Monday, without giving details.

The governor said the rebels had been weakened by the battle and predicted that “the security problems (in Darfur) will be resolved in the next few days, giving way to a lasting peace”.

The Darfur rebellion, launched in February to protest against alleged government neglect of the semi-desert region, cost some 3,000 lives last year, according to UN estimates.

Another 400,000 have been displaced by the conflict in the states of North, South and West Darfur.

The rebels charged Saturday that government troops and allied militias had killed more than 200 civilians in a village, east of Zalingei in the northwest of South Darfur State.

The Darfur insurgency has flared anew just as the Sudanese government and southern rebels have made dramatic progress toward ending their 20-year civil war.