Rebel JEM claims capture of another town in West Darfur

January 2, 2008 (KHARTOUM) — Darfur rebels said they had taken a town Wednesday around Geneina, the main city of West Darfur which they claim to have surrounded.

But there was no immediate confirmation of the rebel claim — made by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) — from UN officials or Sudanese authorities.

“We have taken control this afternoon of the town of Sirba, 30 kilometres (18 miles) to the north of Geneina,” JEM commander Abdelaziz Nur al-Asher told AFP by telephone.

“We hunted down the army in the town and chased the soldiers out, who boarded about 45 vehicles and fled to take refuge in Geneina,” he said from an undeclared location in Darfur — the western region of Sudan which has been ravaged by a bloody civil war for nearly five years.

“We took 17 prisoners, including some officers,” he added.

Khartoum accuses the JEM rebels of operating with the support of the Chad authorities.

The JEM has claimed several attacks in recent months, notably two on foreign-operated oil fields in the neighbouring region of Kordufan.

The group has refused to take part in UN-AU sponsored peace talks aimed at ending the violence in Darfur where 200,000 people have died and more than two million been displaced, according to international organisations.

(AFP)