Rebel leader accuses Sudan of attacks in North Darfur

May 21, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — A Darfur rebel group has accused the government backed militia of killing five civilians, one in an air raid, in the country’s troubled Darfur region, a Khartoum newspaper reported Monday.

Commander Jar al-Naby Abdelkarim, the Secretary General of the Sudan Liberation Movement- Abdelwahid al-Nur, was quoted by the Al Sahafa newspaper as saying government forces had carried out an aerial attack on the Malam al-Hosh area in north Darfur on 19 May killing one person and injuring another. He further added, another attack carried out by militias backed by the government in the same day in the Jabal Moon and Abu Siruj areas in north Darfur had resulted in the death of four people.

However, an army spokesman denied the armed forces were involved in any incidents in these areas. Meanwhile a spokesman for the AU peacekeeping force in Darfur reaffirmed that he is investigating the report.

A spokesman for the army denied reports that attacks had been launched near the Jabal Moon area saying the army had carried out routine patrols and that no clashes had occurred. He pointed out that the incidents could have been the result of tribal clashes and that the rebels were wrongly blaming the government for them. He further denied that the government had bombarded an area with a water pump.

The four-year conflict between ethnic African rebels and pro-government janjaweed militia in Sudan’s western region has killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million Darfurians.

(ST)