Government troops regain control of border town of Tine; Aid group says two killed, 15 wounded

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan 30, 2004 (AP) — Government troops have recaptured the western border town of Tine and overrun eight other localities held by rebels in Darfur province, the Sudanese armed forces said in a statement Friday.

The statement, which was published by the official Sudan News Agency, indicated rebels remained in other parts of Darfur, where an uprising for autonomy that broke out in mid-2003 has killed hundreds of people and caused about 100,000 people to flee to neighboring Chad.

The Sudanese army did not say when its counter-attack took place, but an official of the French aid organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, said the government regained control of Tine after a bombing raid on Thursday.

The bombing killed two people and forced thousands of Sudanese refugees, who had sought haven on the Chadian side of Tine, to flee deeper into the central African country, said Michel Francoys, who runs MSF operations in Chad. The Chad-Sudan border passes through Tine.

At least 15 people, mostly Sudanese refugees, were wounded in the bombing and were being treated at a hospital in Tine run by MSF, Francoys said Friday.

Referring to the custom of giving presents to celebrate the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, which begins Sunday, the Sudanese statement said: ”The present of the armed forces … to the Sudanese people on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha is their overrunning of Tine and chasing away the enemy, securing the town and returning it to the homeland.”

The statement gave no figure for casualties on either side and did not mention an air-raid or say how the counter-attack was conducted.

The rebels and refugees accuse the government of bombing villages in western Sudan. The government denies the allegation.

In Geneva, U.N. aid agencies said Friday that they are seeking about US$16 million to fund relief for the Sudanese refugees in Chad.