Sudanese air raids kill 47 civilians in western Sudan: rebels

CAIRO, Dec 2 (AFP) — Sudanese government warplanes killed 47 civilians and wounded 37 others during bombing raids on villages in western Sudan’s Darfur region, a rebel leader, Abdel Wahed Mohammed Ahmed al-Nur, said Tuesday.

“Antonov planes with the Sudanese armed forces savagely bombed villages in the Jibal Nun region on Monday, leaving 47 dead, mostly women and children, and 37 wounded,” Ahmed al-Nur said.

Ahmed al-Nur, president of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), said the air strikes in the region north of El-Geneina, the main city in West Darfur State, sparked a mass exodus of villagers to surrounding mountains and villages.

The SLM last week accused Sudanese government forces of having launched air strikes against two areas of Darfur, killing 14 people.

Government forces have clashed since February with the SLM, which accuses Khartoum of neglecting the impoverished North, West and South Darfur states in the region neighbouring Chad.

The rebel movement regularly accuses the government of breaking the ceasefire agreement signed in September.

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

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.