Sudanese troops retake control of East Darfur towns, confirm army and rebels
Article Comments (0) Email Print Save ________________________________ April 17, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) have regained control of two towns in Central Darfur state seized earlier this month by a rebel group, confirmed the military spokespersons of the two belligerent sides on Wednesday. UNAMID announced Tuesday that SAF troops retook the control of Labado town from the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement - Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM). The statement, which condemned the killing of 4 civilians in the fighting, further mentioned that the situation in the adjacent Muhajeria was tense. The armed forces "after honourable battles", have liberated the two towns of Labado and Muhajeria in East Darfur state, announced SAF spokesperson Khaled Al-Sawarmi in a statement he released in Khartoum. He said the inhabitants of the two areas went out to the streets to joyously welcome SAF troops. Al-Sawarmi added that the army was chasing the rebels who "spread chaos and looted civilians’ properties". On the other hand, the SLM-MM also issued a statement confirming that the two towns are now under the control of the government army and militias. None of the parties mention figures of the killed soldiers or rebels. However, SLM-MM military spokesperson Adam Saleh Abakr said they decided to withdraw from the areas after fierce fighting with the Sudanese since last Monday to protect the civilians. He further said that militiamen who entered Labado while they were clashing with SAF soldiers, killed nine civilians, wounded five, and tortured two others without elaborating. The rebel official also slammed Darfur peacekeepers for failing to protect civilians stressing that some of the killed people were among those who gathered outside the site of the mission in Labado. The (UNAMID "has become a burden for the people of Darfur", he added demanding the international community to investigate this incident. Earlier the UNAMID had expressed its concern for the security of civilians in the two East Darfur towns and demanded the parties to allow humanitarian access to the affected population The hybrid mission said there were some 8,000 people gathered around its premises in Labado and 10,000 other in Muhajeria. The SLM-MM signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in May 2006 but the group broke the deal in 2011 following a disagreement over the implementation of the deal. During the Doha process the government said the group cannot join the talks but only can negotiate the implementation of pending issues. Nonetheless it was rumoured recently that the group is in contact mediation to discuss the possibility of reaching a political solution. Al-Sawarmi said that the army also recaptured the area of Aldndor located at 50 km east of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state. He added the rebels had seized the area recently aiming to shell Kadugli . (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
