Six Sudanese security men killed by rebels in Darfur

KHARTOUM, Jan 4 (AFP) — Rebels in western Sudan killed six government security men when they staged a surprise attack with a dozen gun-mounted four-wheel drive vehicles and trucks, the governor of the area told AFP Sunday.

The rebels attacked in Shiariyah town in the northeast of South Darfur State Saturday, killing three policemen, including a colonel, and three security men, state governor Adam Hamid Mussa said.

The rebels also ransacked the market and took away belongings from the civilians before driving away, he said from the state capital Nyala.

“The locality used to be quiet and safe,” he said.

“Therefore there were no army troops in the vicinity and the few police and security men were taken by surprise and were unprepared for such an engagement with such a big gang of heavily armed outlaws.”

An army unit rushed in “but it was too late,” he added.

The victims included a police colonel, a security captain, two police privates and two security privates, said Mussa adding that the attackers apparently came from North Darfur State.

The Darfur rebellion, launched in February by the Sudan Liberation Movement and a smaller group to protest against government neglect of the semi-desert region, left some 3,000 dead last year, according to UN estimates.

Another 400,000 have been displaced by the conflict in the states of North, South and West Darfur.

On September 3, the government and the rebel SLM signed a ceasefire agreement which they later accused each other of violating.

The SLM charged Saturday that government troops and allied militias had killed more than 200 civilians in a village, east of Zalingei in the northwest of South Darfur State.