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Sudan army 'repels' rebels advance on Darfur
The Sudanese army says troops have repelled a rebel attack by the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement in the strife-torn (Darfur) region. The military said JEM fighters suffered heavy causalities in Friday's raid, while the rebels claimed they had fended off the attack, a Press TV correspondent reported Saturday. Government ground forces backed by warplanes carried out attacks on the JEM forces after learning their advance in the western town Jabal Marra, said a Sudanese army spokesman, Brigadier General Osman Al-Agbash. Fourteen JEM armored vehicles were destroyed during the army offensive that left 4 soldiers dead and injured another 3. JEM, for their part, claimed to have "easily" defeated the offensive adding that the group now holds a Sudanese army Colonel, Hamid Ahmed, captive. "The offensive was easily and summarily defeated, despite use of 2 Antonov planes, 2 MIG 29 fighters and 6 tanks, two captured, three destroyed and one escaped," said a spokesman for the armed JEM, Ali Al-Wafi. The assault comes as both the rebel group and Khartoum are meeting in Qatari capital Doha to discuss a possible ceasefire in the region. The talks hosted by Qatar are the first such one-on-one meeting between the Sudanese government and JEM. United Nations estimates put the death toll from the clashes in Darfur to 300,000 people, with some 2.2 million others displaced. Khartoum, however, has officially documented 10,000 deaths. Posted by: Fred 2009-02-15 |
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