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Darfur rebels say attack Sudan army
Darfur rebels said on Sunday they had inflicted a crushing defeat on Sudan's army in West Darfur in an overnight battle during which they captured 29 soldiers, 32 vehicles and heavy weaponry. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Khalil Ibrahim said had also simultaneously attacked for a second time Sudan's Defra oil field, shutting down its pumping station."We captured a lieutenant-colonel called Mahdi Hamad Ahmed," JEM commander Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr told Reuters from the field. He added three other officers including lieutenant Abdel Moneim were also captured. "We defeated two battalions and chased them to within 7 kilometres (4 miles) of el-Geneina," he said, referring to the capital of West Darfur state. Sudan's armed forces said they had no immediate confirmed information on the fighting to release to the media. Ashr said JEM lost three soldiers and had 12 wounded in the fighting which began late on Friday and ended early on Saturday. Ashr said at the same time fighters cut off the road between el-Geneina and the central Darfur town of Zalengei and attacked the Defra oil field in neighbouring Kordofan. These insurgents were all from Arab tribes. Ibrahim told Reuters the attack on Defra, the second on the Chinese-run oil field in two months, was the latest in a spate of planned attacks which would continue until the Chinese left Sudan's oil industry. "The government uses the oil money to buy Chinese weapons in Darfur," said Ibrahim. He said JEM had attacked another field in the area two days previous called the Khadra field. Posted by: Fred 2007-12-17 |
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