Sudan repels three Darfur rebel attacks- agency

CAIRO, Oct 23 (Reuters) – Sudanese forces repelled three rebel attacks on a town in the western Darfur region, a news agency with close links to the government reported.

Members of Sudan Liberation Army rebels stand attention in Tarenjer village west Darfur, October 11, 2004.

The Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) reported that “Tora Bora” rebels attacked al-Lait town in North Darfur state once on Thursday and twice on Friday.

The agency said the rebels used eight cars in the attacks and government forces had destroyed three. It did not mention if there had been any casualties in the fighting.

Rebel representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Some Sudanese use the term “Tora Bora” to refer to the two Darfur rebel groups which launched an uprising against Khartoum in early 2003, the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Movement.

Al-Lait is about 125 km (80 miles) north of Ghubeish town in Western Kordofan state where rebels carried out a hit-and-run attack early this month in what government officials said was an attempt to spread fighting outside Darfur.

The crisis in Darfur in western Sudan erupted after years of skirmishes between Arab nomads and non-Arab farmers over scarce resources in the arid region. Rebels took up arms last year, accusing the government with neglecting Darfur.

Rebels say the government has used Arab militias known as Janjaweed to put down their rebellion and to loot and burn African villages. The Sudanese government admits arming some militias to fight the rebels but denies links to Janjaweed.

Peace talks, sponsored by the African Union, were postponed by four days on Thursday after a transport mix-up left delegates stranded across the region.