Six gunmen killed in retaliation for Sudan rebel’s death

KHARTOUM, July 27 (AFP) — Six unidentifed gunmen have been killed near Sudan’s border with Chad by the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) in retaliation for killing one SLA member, the UN Mission in Sudan said Wednesday.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels cheer as they speed across the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state November 8, 2004. (Reuters).

The UN said it had received a report that on July 22, six armed men crossed the border from Chad and attacked a village in the Muzbad area, 125 kilometres north of Kutum in North Darfur, killing one SLA member.

In retaliation the SLA reportedly chased and killed the men, the UN said.

In another development, the UN report said the SLA on July 24 stated that North Darfur Korma area which they claim to be controlling, was “in urgent need of assistance and vehicles carrying humanitarian supplies will not be allowed to pass through the area without sharing the supplies.”

The report did not indicate further developments.

It said the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on July 22 stopped two WFP-marked commercial trucks on their way to Kutum, in North Darfur, and seized 14 cartons of vegetable oil before allowing the trucks to continue.

The conflict in Darfur has claimed between 180,000 and 300,000 lives, displaced around 2.4 million people and sent more than 200,000 fleeing to neighbouring Chad, sparking one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.