Sudanese army claim to have defeated rebels in North Darfur battle
March 7, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said its troops carried out a large scale attack against the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fighters in North Darfur, denying rebel claims about the same battle.
Yesterday JEM said they defeated SAF troops riding in some 138 vehicles and eight tanks in Baashim in North Darfur . The official spokesperson of the group, Gibreel Adam Bilal, said another rebel faction, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – Unity faction (SPLM-Unity) of Abdallah Yahya took part in the clashes.
However Al-Sawarmi Khaled, SAF spokesperson, said the armed forces killed a large number of rebel combatants who fled the area. He pointed out that they captured two armed vehicles and destroyed four others.
The army “seized a large number of machine guns and military hardware,” he added.
The military spokesperson said the governmental troops killed Adam Moussa, a leading rebel commander.
The United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is the only neutral observer on the ground, but it can not confirm or deny publicly which version is right, as the two belligerents issued conflicting reports.
JEM and other three rebel groups in Darfur, Blue Nile, and South Kordofan agreed to join their efforts to put an end to the rule of the National Congress Party (NCP).
The rebels decided to engage in a war of attrition against Khartoum and carry out simultaneous attacks on the regular troops in different regions. On the other side, SAF is seeking to clear Darfur of rebel groups and concentrate its efforts in South Kordofan.
(ST)