Darfur rebels ambush Sudanese military convoy in North Darfur
November 10, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Two Darfur rebel groups said they destroyed a Sudanese military convoy after an ambush held on Friday on the road linking the capitals of North and South Darfur states.
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) said they attacked a convoy of Sudanese troops riding nearly 200 vehicles of different types and sizes on Al-Fasher-Nyala road at Lmmaina village near Shangil Tobaya in North Darfur.
The SLM-MM said the bulk of the convoy was destroyed and 20 vehicles full of weapons were seized, while JEM military spokesperson Badawi Moussa Al-Sakin said they captured a tank.
The Sudanese army spokesperson was not reachable to comment on these statements about the joint attack.
SLM-MM spokesperson Abdallah Mursal, accused in a second statement the hybrid peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) of rescuing the Sudanese forces who escaped the attack to Shangil Tobaya .
Mursdal said UNAMID dispatched two helicopters to Shangil Tobaya to transport Sudanese soldiers wounded in the attack to Al-Fasher hospital
“The SLM-MM condemns in the strongest terms the UNMAID for disregarding its principal mandate, protection of civilians”, Mursal said, accusing the mission of taking part in the conflict by protecting the regime’s forces and providing different types of support to the Sudanese army.
He further called on the United Nations, African Union, Arab League, European Union and United States to intervene to stop such cooperation with the Sudanese government “So as not to become a party to the conflict if it continues in its cooperation with the government and in particular the Sudanese army,” he waned.
JEM and SLM-MM are members of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) together with the SPLM-North and SLM of Abdel Wahid Al-Nur. They reject a peace deal the government signed with the Liberation and Justice Movement in Doha last year and call for a comprehensive process too settle Sudan’s problem.
Delegations from the Sudanese government and Darfur Regional Authority will arrive Sunday in Doha to participate in an a meeting of an international mechanism to follow-up the implementation of peace document inked in July 2011.
The meeting will discuss preparations for a donor conference to be held in Doha next month, peace negotiations between Khartoum and a splinter faction of JEM rebels. The meeting also will tackle the security situation and the need to cooperate with international NGOs and foreign experts on the ground.
(ST)