Sudan army says Darfur rebels burn eight villages

KHARTOUM, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Darfur rebels attacked and burned eight villages in western Sudan, killing dozens of civilians and looting their property, an armed forces official said on Sunday.

Sudan Liberation Army rebels wait 08 November 2004 at their bases in Gellab, North Darfur, Sudan. (AFP).

“A group of Darfur rebels attacked al-Malam area, on the borders of North and South Darfur states,” an armed forces official, who declined to be named, told Reuters.

He did not know which of the Darfur rebel groups was responsible.

“They burnt eight villages and killed many people,” the official said.

Two main rebel groups denied their troops were involved and said they were checking what happened. They said their forces were committed to the ceasefire agreement signed last April.

A statement from the office of the armed forces spokesman said dozens of civilians had been killed in the attack on Saturday and their homes looted.

There are three recognised rebel groups in Darfur but other groups also operate, making it difficult to determine who carries out attacks in the vast region the size of France.

After years of tribal clashes over scarce resources in the arid area, two main rebel groups took up arms in early 2003, accusing the Khartoum government of neglect and of arming Arab militias, known as Janjaweed, to loot and burn non-Arab villages.

While Khartoum admits arming some tribes to fight the rebels, they deny all links to the Janjaweed, calling them outlaws. Tens of thousands have died and almost 2 million have fled their homes since the fighting began.

“Be sure that these are not our troops,” said rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) spokesman Haroun Abdel Hamid from Libya, adding he was checking what had happened in al-Malam.

The other main rebel movement, the Sudan Liberation Army, also denied the attacks were by their troops.