Government bombing kills 10 civilians in Sudan’s Darfur: rebels

CAIRO, Nov 21 (AFP) — At least 10 civilians were killed during a bombing raid by Sudanese government forces on villages and rebel positions in the country’s troubled western Darfur region, a rebel official said.

The official from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) accused the government of committing with the bombing attacks a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire” that has been in place since September 3.

Speaking to AFP in Cairo by telephone, Abdallah Hassaballah said the bombing raid attacked SLM positions and villages in the Cornei region, around 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of al-Fasher, the main town in the semi-desert Darfur.

“At least 10 civilians, including women and children, have been killed and a certain number have been injured,” he said.

Since February, Darfur, on Sudan’s border with Chad, has been the scene of clashes between SLM rebels and government forces backed by local militias.

At least 3,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced by the fighting, with the conflict choking economic development in the region.

The government and the SLM are due to restart negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement on December 4 in Chad.