Sudan army: Rebels burned eight villages, killed civilians in South Darfur

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Jan 23, 2005 (AP) — Sudan on Sunday accused rebels of burning eight villages and killing an unspecified number of civilians in a recent attack in South Darfur, according to a statement from the army general command.

A young Sudan Liberation Army rebel patrols the town of Deribat in the Jebel Marra mountains of South Darfur state. (Reuters).

The statement, carried by the official Sudan News Agency, said the attacks took place Friday near Malam, about 100 kilometers north of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

“The rebels have led a heinous attack on the areas of Malam … burning down eight villages and killing and injuring a number of civilians and looting properties,” the statement said.

“Your gallant army repulsed the attack, inflicting heavy casualties on them,” the statement said.

It gave no numbers of casualties on either side.

The African Union, which is monitoring a Nov. 9 cease-fire between the rebels and the government, said it had heard of the incident but had no details.

“We are following up the matter,” said AU press spokesman Justin Thendu.

The report of the violence came a day after the U.N. chief envoy to Sudan said fighting between government and rebels in Darfur had decreased in the past month but that Arab militias were still attacking villagers in the troubled region.

“The violence is still perpetrated by pro-government militias and other armed groups that are very difficult to control,” Jan Pronk said. “They attack villages, abduct people and increasingly use rape as a tool of war.”

“But between the government and the rebel movements, there is more adherence to the cease-fire than a month ago -and that is a step forward,” Pronk said of the Darfur conflict.

Sudan ‘s government and the two main rebel groups in Darfur signed cease-fire agreements in April and November, meant to enable aid workers to care for those affected by the violence. But they have frequently violated them.

Sunday’s statement reaffirmed the army’s “full commitment” to the cease-fire “which seeks to preserve the security of the homeland and the safety of the citizen.

“But the army would like to stress that it would not hesitate in the protection of this beloved homeland, “the army statement said.

The Darfur conflict started in February 2003 when two non-Arab African rebel groups took up arms in a bid for more power and a greater share of resources.

The government responded with a counterinsurgency campaign in which a mostly Arab militia known as the Janjaweed has committed wide-scale abuses against people it says are allied to the rebels.

Hardships including disease and malnutrition are believed to have killed more than 70,000 people from Darfur since last March. Many more have been killed in nearly two years of fighting, although no firm estimate of the direct toll of the war exists.