Sudanese army bombards rebels in North Darfur
Oct 17, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese soldiers heavily bombarded rebel positions in retaliation, after rebels attacked a Sudanese army outpost in North Darfur, the African Union said Monday.
It was unclear if there were any casualties in the fighting, which took place early Sunday southeast of the town of Kutum, according to the African Union, which has been monitoring a shaky cease-fire deal in Darfur.
The A.U. condemned the violence, which it said in a statement included the “heavy bombardment” by the Sudanese army of suspected positions of the rebel Sudanese Liberation Army.
Soldiers then chased the rebels into the nearby villages of Kenin and Nadi, the A.U. said.
“The African Mission in Sudan is concerned that despite repeated appeals by the international community as a whole, these incidents, attacks and counterattacks continue unabated, thus contributing to a general slide towards widespread security deterioration in Darfur,” said the A.U., which urged restraint and cooperation from the warring sides to help it investigate the incident.
Kutum was the scene of clashes between SLA rebels and Sudanese soldiers last week.
On Oct. 8, SLA rebels killed three Nigerian soldiers working as A.U. peacekeepers and their two Sudanese civilian drivers in southern Darfur.
A day later, rebels from another Darfur group, the Justice and Equality Movement, kidnapped about 40 African Union personnel near Sudan’s border with Chad before releasing them.
The U.N., also concerned about the worsening violence, last week ordered all nonessential staff out of West Darfur following a spike in attacks and kidnappings.
Conflict engulfed Darfur in February 2003, when the two non-Arab rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-dominated government to win more political and economic rights for the region’s African tribes.
Sudan’s Arab government is accused of responding by backing Janjaweed militiamen who have carried out rapes and killings against Sudanese of African origin. The government denies backing the Janjaweed.
The U.N. estimates that about 180,000 people have died due to the violence, disease or malnutrition since October 2003.
(AP/ST)