Darfur rebels pledge fierce fighting over Muhageriya
January 21, 2009 (LONDON) — The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has pledged a lot of blood in southern Darfur in the coming days accusing Sudanese government of undertaking military build-up to attack its troops.
Since last week, JEM controlled the location of Muhageryia and driven out Minnawi’s troops from their former stronghold town. The former rebel leader is currently in Darfur preparing to retake it from the JEM troops. But Khartoum also said will attack the rebel group.
El-Tahir El-Faki, the speaker of JEM Legislative Council told Sudan Tribune they are prepared to any military attack from the Sudanese army or Minnawi fighters. “We can say they are preparing to attack us from four fronts.” He also warned that there would be a lot of blood but it is to Khartoum and its allies to shoulder this responsibility.
The rebel official pointed out their right to defend themselves saying they informed the joint chief mediator of this issue. El Faki also emphasized that Muhageriya was under JEM’s control up to 2005 and they are welcomed by the local population which suffered from taxes imposed by former rebels.
He also dismissed reports about indirect talks with Minnawi saying all what we have there are some goodwill contacts by friendly people to prevent military confrontation but “no one intervened to demand us to withdraw from Muhageryia,” he asserted.
In the capital of South Darfur state, the governor confirmed rebels’s statement about imminent attack on Muhageryia 80 km (50 Miles) from Nyala saying the Sudanese armed forces are preparing to retake the disputed location from the rebels
Governor, Ali Mahmoud, said the armed forces are set to liberate the town from JEM troops. He added that the besieged rebels suffer from a severe shortage of food and fuel.
Minni group says fighters who recently defected to JEM are behind the attack on the disputed locality on January 15.
The Senior Presidential Assistant last week demanded JEM to pull out its troops unconditionally from the location. He further accused some neighboring countries of supporting Khalil Ibrahim expansionist ambition to control the whole Darfur.
Also, the hybrid peacekeeping mission expressed concerns for the lives and safety of the civilian population and warned that continued fighting between the two groups could lead to a catastrophic humanitarian situation for the 30,000 residents and displaced civilians.
It also said the peacekeepers on the ground will protect the local population. However, the joint mission underlined the evacuation of the humanitarian personnel from the disputed town after the destruction of the office of an aid agency there.
(ST)