Former rebels: Government attacks central Darfur

Sun Sep 14, 7:07 PM ET

KHARTOUM, Sudan - Sudanese government forces waging an offensive in northern Darfur have attacked rebel-held areas farther south, including a base belonging to a group that signed a peace deal with the government, rebels said Sunday.

At least three fighters were killed and nine injured in an attack on the base Saturday, said Mohamed Bashir, chief of staff of former rebel leader Minni Minawi, the only one to sign a peace deal with the government. The assault came just before sunset as the fighters in Kolge, in the east Jebel Marra area, were preparing for the Muslim meal to break the fast during the month of Ramadan.

"This is a breach of the agreement," Bashir said from Khartoum, Sudan's capital. "We don't know why the government attacks a base for a movement that signed a peace deal."

Minawi was appointed presidential adviser soon after signing the 2006 deal. In June, he returned to Darfur, citing lack of implementation.

Military spokesman Osman Al Aghbash said in a statement carried by the government-linked Sudan Media Center Web site that the attack was to chase "bandits" away.

Bashir said the government forces know the area near Tabit in Jebel Marra is held by Minawi's fighters, and he denied it is a base for bandits. He said the fighters repelled government forces on Sunday.

Other rival rebel groups have reported government attacks since Friday in the same area east of the Jebel Marra, a well-protected region because of its rugged terrain. The area has largely been held by rebels.

Abdu Harun, a commander for the Sudan Liberation Army in Jebel Marra, said three positions of his group were attacked. He had no reports of casualties but said his fighters captured two Sudanese military personnel. Harun was speaking in a satellite phone interview from the Jebel Marra. No immediate comment from the government was available.

Another rebel group spokesman, Mahgoub Hussain, from the SLA-unity branch, said a force of nearly 100 vehicles attacked the areas of Tarni and Khazan Tunjur, in the vicinity of Tabit, which is mostly under the control of his fighters.

Speaking from London, he said the government is "trying to change the balance of power ahead of any upcoming negotiations. It is trying to impose its conditions" by overtaking areas held previously by the rebels.

The offensive in central Darfur follows reports of other advancing government troops in the region. The joint U.N.-African Union mission in Darfur reported a government attack last week on villages in northern Darfur, saying attack helicopters and a military convoy of 120 vehicles had been seen in the area.

It comes on the heels of another offensive in the north last month when government forces took hold of strategic areas along the border with Libya previously held by rebel groups.