Minawi fighters, Sudanese army attack holdout rebels
July 9, 2006 (PARIS) — In a manner to officialize the split among the main Darfur rebel group led by Minni Minawi, a wing opposed to the Darfur peace agreement said they was attacked by joint force from Minni forces, Sudanese army and the Arab militia.
The former Spokesperson of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minawi, Esam Eddin al-Haj, accused, in a press statement, Minni Minawi of attacking his former local commanders opposed to the DPA in Um Sider and Bir Maza, in northern Darfur.
Al-Haj said this military operation was carried out by a joint force from loyal SLA troop to Minawi, Sudanese army and Janjaweed. The fighting started Saturday morning and continued till the evening of Sunday 9 July.
According to the press statement, the joint force was defeated by the holdout rebel forces.
This attack is the first clear indication of the split within the main rebel group. If the first split of the SLM in October 2005 was the result of power straggle between two men Abdelwahid al-Nur and Minni Minawi, this one is a direct consequence of the Darfur peace agreement signed in Abuja on 9 May.
Reliable sources from Darfur region told Sudan Tribune that Minawi with the help of the Sudanese army wants to pacify areas controlled by commanders who are now against the peace deal, because they would weaken his position, when start the implementation of the security arrangement at the end of next October.
According to the DPA, Sudanese government has to disarm the Janjaweed militias before the 15 October, but on the ground nothing has been done to disarm these militias.
The same source attested that this development now pushes the former commanders of Minawi faction to join the National Redemption Front announced on 30 June from the Eritrean capital.
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) accused in a situation report SLM-Minawi of raping and murdering civilians in an offensive against rebel holdouts Sunday.
The report indicated 15 young women “being raped and then killed” by Minawi fighters, and about 40 men were kidnapped and “were believed to have been executed,” it added, noting that the general security situation was reported to be tense.
Some 4,000 civilians have fled the fighting between the rival factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement in the Tawila area of North Darfur state,
(ST)