Rebel SLA captures town in Sudan’s Darfur

Sept 20, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Rebels in the Darfur region of western Sudan said they captured the town of Sheiria from government forces in a surprise attack on Tuesday, killing more than 80 government soldiers.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels enter a village in the desert east of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state November 8, 2004. (Reuters) .

A Sudanese military official said the rebels had launched a surprise attack on Sheiria, killing civilians and soldiers. He did not say the rebels had captured the town, about 70 km (45 miles) northeast of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state.

A statement by the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), signed by spokesman Mahjoub Hussein, said the rebels acted in response to government intrusions into rebel-held territory.

“After heavy fighting, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLM forces) was able this morning to defeat the enemy forces and occupy the town of Sheiria in South Darfur,” said the statement, which was issued in London and received by fax.

“They left many victims among enemy forces and the initial count exceeds 80 government soldiers,” it added.

Rebels at peace talks in Nigeria said on Monday militias and government forces had killed 30 people in attacks in Darfur.

The African Union, the body mediating the talks, said the rebels had considered boycotting the talks with the government but were persuaded to await the outcome of an AU investigation into the violence.

The military official said rebels who attacked Sheiria could have been a breakaway faction of the SLA trying to disrupt the peace talks in Abuja.

The deputy spokesman for the U.N. Mission in Sudan, George Somerwill, said he could confirm there had been fighting in the area but not that the town had fallen to the SLA.

The two main rebel groups in the area, the SLA and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), launched the rebellion in early 2003 after complaining about political marginalisation and underdevelopment in Darfur.

The fighting in Darfur has killed tens of thousands of people and driven around 2 million from their homes since the start of the rebellion. Aid officials have said banditry has increased in the area and is disrupting aid deliveries.

The rebels say Khartoum armed militias drawn from nomadic communities and the militias burnt and looted farming villages.

(Reuters)