Sudan denies attack on former Darfur rebels positions
October 9, 2007 (KHARTOUM, Sudan) — The Sudanese army denied today reports that government forces carried out an attack on a former rebel-controlled town in Darfur. More than 50 people were killed, former rebels say.
Sudan Liberation Movement of Mini Minawi, the only Darfur rebel group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum on Tuesday threatened to go back to war after it said more than 50 people were killed in a government-backed attack on a town it controls.
However, the spokesperson of the Sudan Armed Forces, Brig. Osman Mohamed al-Aghbash said the violence in Muhajeria was between tribes and the government army was not involved.
“What has occurred was fighting between tribes in the area, and the armed forces have nothing to do with it,” he said in a statement Tuesday. He did not identify the tribes.
He further denied the intervention of government air force “the Air Force had nothing to do with the incidents of the area and had never come near it, as it had been conducting a reconnaissance role at Haskanita area in accordance with what has been arranged with the African Union.”
Many U.N. resolutions ban military flights over the region, and the military regularly denies it conducts aerial bombings, though the government is the only force in Darfur possessing aircraft.
During the last week Sudan Tribune received reports on aerial bombardments in northern Darfur from some rebel commanders in the area of Attroon but they were unable to provide causalities.
On Tuesday, international observers in Darfur told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity more than 40 people were wounded in the Muhajeria attack, but they could not confirm any deaths.
The African Union said it was treating many wounded civilians at its small base in Muhajeria, but said its peacekeepers could not leave the camp and were unable to confirm a death toll.
Seif Haroun, a SLM- Minni Minawi spokesperson in Khartoum called the attack a “flagrant violation” of the peace deal signed by his rebel group and Khartoum in Abuja in May 2006 and aimed at ending a conflict that has left at least 200,000 people dead.
The group’s military commander warned that any further attack would lead to the resumption of war.
“From now on, our movement will not stand by and do nothing in the face of such attacks,” said Arku Suleiman Dhahia, commander in chief of the SLM’s armed wing, the Sudan Liberation Army.
“If this happens again, we go back to square one which means war and it will be worse than the one before (the peace deal was signed) 2006,” he told journalists in Khartoum.
As a result of the attack, Minawi, now a special advisor to President Omar al-Beshir, cut short a visit to Darfur in which he had been trying to persuade other rebel factions to join this month’s peace talks in Libya.
The army spokesperson affirmed Sudanese army keenness on implementation of Abuja Agreement and respect of all the security arrangements that had been agreed upon with Minawi group.
Last week rebel groups accused Sudanese army of attacking AU positions in Haskanita and burning the town. But the army also denied the charges.
(ST)