Sudan warns against rebel attempts to regain Darfur

July 1, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign ministry warned Friday against any rebel attempt to use the four month cessation of hostilities to reintroduce armed combatants into Darfur region.

In a press statement issued on Friday, Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdel-Ghani al-Naem said the Sudan Armed Forces and its allied militias are committed to observe the unilateral four-month ceasefire and to stop military attacks.

“However, any attempt to exploit this process by reintroducing armed groups into Darfur or utilizing the cessation of the offensive operations for military advantage will be seen as a hostile act and the Sudanese Armed forces, will reserve the right to respond with proportional force,” al-Naem said

The Sudanese government fears that rebel groups may seek to return to Darfur hundreds of fighters dispatched to South Kordofan after the formation of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front and the establishment of a joint command in 2011.

Following three months of fierce fighting in Jebel Marra, last April the Sudanese army declared Darfur free of rebels. However, the different rebel groups dismissed these statements.

The Sudanese army also have deployed troops along the border with South Sudan, in West Kordofan, East and South Darfur states as it accuses Juba of harbouring Sudanese rebel groups in the Greater Bahr el-Ghazal region.

(ST)