Sudanese forces and pro-government militia have burned several villages and killed more than 175 civilians in West Sudan in recent attacks during an ongoing government offensive, a rebel official said on Sunday. Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur, chairman of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one of two main rebel groups in the area, also told Reuters his group had killed about 700 government troops and militia. Fighting in Darfur has surged in recent weeks. Rebels say government forces have been bombing civilian areas with Antonov planes, helicopter gunships and heavy artillery during the offensive, driving thousands of people across the border into Chad. "Now (on Sunday), in east Jebel Marra, the government is bombing with Antonov aircraft and gunships," the SLA’s Nur said.
| Last time they were Apaches. Guess the gummint used them all up... |
Sudanese state radio reported on Friday that the Sudanese army had captured the town of Tine, on the border with Chad and north of Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state. The SLA’s Nur told Reuters four villages were burned and more than 75 civilians killed in government-led attacks on Saturday in the area of west Jebel Marra. SLA forces killed 700 government troops and militia, known as the Janjaweed, in a counter attack in west Jebel Marra. He said he was citing figures from commanders in the field. Nur said more than 100 civilians were also killed on Saturday when five villages were torched in the Jebel Moon area. An official from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the other main rebel group, confirmed government attacks in recent days in the Jebel Marra and Jebel Moon areas but could not give figures for the numbers killed. "It is very difficult to get the exact number, because the area is very wide and still some villages are burning," said JEM’s Abu Bakr Hamid al-Nur. |