KHARTOUM -- The Sudanese government army denied Saturday a claim by rebels that they had killed 500 army troops and captured 300 others in fighting in North Darfur state.
| "Nope. Musta been somebody else they slaughtered..." |
An official in the office of army spokesman General Mohammed Beshir Suleiman described the claim as a "false media rattle and fabrication." The official said "a small army reconnaissance team set out on Thursday to a place about 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of Kutum on a military mission. He said the team "engaged with a gang of armed robbers," which it defeated before continuing with its mission and returning safely to its base. He added that government forces "are now in full control of North Darfur."
| "Yep. We're in charge here. Nothin' to see... Duck!" |
On Thursday, a leader of the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLM) said its forces had killed the troops and taken the prisoners during fighting earlier in the day. "We totally destroyed an infantry batallion moving in the area and we caused 500 deaths and took 300 prisoners during an ambush Thursday north of the city of Kutum," SLM secretary general Mani Arkoi Minawi told AFP. The SLM has claimed a number of attacks in the Darfur region since it surfaced for the first time in February.
| But I'm not believing too heavily in the success of this one. The casualty figures sound a little, ummm... inflated... |
The government has refused to acknowledge any political motivation for unrest in the states of North, South and West Darfur, blaming it instead on "armed criminal gangs and outlaws," who it says are aided by tribes from neighboring Chad. Sudanese authorities have also accused the southern separatist Sudan People's Liberation Army of helping the "outlaws" in the Darfur region, a charge the SPLA denies.
| But which could very well be true. Probably depends on how Islamist the SLM is — and even then, I wouldn't rule out tactical alliances against a common target... |
The SLM is not included in the framework of peace talks aimed at ending Khartoum's 20-year-old civil war with the SPLA, with which it has denied having any links. |