Government kills 50 civilians in two-day attack on Jebel Marra – Darfur rebels
February 25, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — A Darfur rebel group said the Sudanese army was attacking their positions in Jebel Marra since yesterday adding they repelled the assailants and killed dozens of soldiers while over fifty civilians are dead following the bombing.
Earlier this week the rebel SLM-AW accused some splinter commanders of operating conjointly with the army and Janjaweed militia. Today Nourredine Janga, a rebel commander, repeated these accusations.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune by satellite telephone from northern Darfur, Janga said the attack began Wednesday in the afternoon about 4:00 p.m. (local time) when army troops transported by some 80 vehicles attacked Aradyeb Al-Asharah, in northern Jebel Marra.
The two days of fighting resulted in the death of 73 army soldiers, he claimed, adding they captured 16 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles with heavy weapons and munitions.
During an electoral meeting held in El-Fasher on Wednesday, Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir said “the war in Darfur is over” alluding to the ceasefire agreement signed with the Justice and Equality Movement on Tuesday.
“The war continues in Darfur, and when Al-Bashir was dishonestly speaking about the end of war his troops were attacking the civilians in the area where over 40 people were killed and 28 young girls and 8 women were raped,” said the rebel commander who promised to revenge the dead people and raped women.
“Now you will see we will carry out the next offensive; we will not wait for them and the war will be more intense,” angrily said the commander, adding “the blood of their relatives is feeding their struggle.”
He said the indiscriminate bombing of Sudanese warplanes killed the signficant number of villagers there. According to Janga, Antonovs, Migs and helicopters participated in the two day attack.
Medecins du Monde, the only aid group working in the area, suspended its medical action saying it had been forced out of Deribat by Wednesday’s military attack. The French aid group also said its health center in Feina had been looted on February 18, depriving some 30,000 people of treatment conducted from the single medical structure.
The peacekeeping mission reported yesterday that some 1500 people have been displaced to Thur, West Darfur, as a direct result of the fighting in Jebel Marra area. The announcement was made following a UNAMID mission sent to the area to investigate humanitarian effects of last month’s fighting in that part of Jebel Marra.
Commenting on the attack, Abdel Wahid Al-Nur, SLM leader, condemned it, saying attacks will not bring them to the negotiating table, adding only civilians’ security and their protection can convince Darfur rebels to accept peace talks.
“What is seen as intransigence is actually the demand of Darfurian people who are subjected to the killing, rape and displacement on a daily basis” he said.
“I’m a voice of Darfur’s people” he said adding “oppression has never defeated the will of people”
Yesterday the French government pressed Al-Nur to join the Doha process to end the seven year conflict and negotiate a peaceful settlement in Darfur.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune, Nur said since his arrival in Paris, French authorities have been speaking with him on the need to hold peace talks with the government.
However, the rebel leader underscored the need to put pressure on the government to stop attacking civilians in Darfur. “I urge the international community to help us and the mediation in this regard”.
“Those who are killed in Darfur on a daily basis are from my family and relatives, so we are the first concerned by this conflict because we are the victims of this war,” said Al-Nur. He added this conflict will not reach an end “unless the government stops its atrocities”.
The SLA-AW last month in a singular move carried out an attack on the Sudanese army and took control of Gulu, the capital of Jebel Marra. The rebels said they intended to protect the civilians in the area.
During prior years the rebel group had said it was committed to the April 2004 ceasefire agreement signed with the Sudanese government in Addis Ababa, but the recent development shows that the rebel group has brushed aside this old doctrine.
The commander Noureddine also mentioned heavy fighting in another two areas, Deribat and Kutru, and said they are resolved to show to the government their “ugly face” after several years of patience.
(ST)