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| Africa Horn | |
| Darfur rebels accuse army of launching 2 attacks | |
| 2009-11-27 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region on Thursday accused government troops of launching two attacks in a development likely to hinder peace talks which began this month. Rebel commander Suleiman Marjan of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) said government forces attacked civilians in Jabal Eissa and al-Harra in North Darfur on Wednesday. "They drove out the civilians, beating them, looting and arrested 11 young men," Marjan said. The SLA had no base in the villages, which was home to about 6,000 people, he said. In an earlier army attack on Nov. 18 on a nearby SLA base, two rebels and eight government soldiers were killed, he said. "We repulsed them and they left 20 injured behind and about 50 prisoners who we later released," Marjan said. Officials from the government army were not available to comment. The joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) was also unable to confirm the attacks. The United Nations estimates about 300,000 people have been killed since mostly non-Arab rebels in Darfur took up arms against Khartoum more than six years ago. The government puts the toll at about 10,000. The International Criminal Court has demanded President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's arrest for war crimes linked to the counter-insurgency campaign.
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| Posted by:Fred |