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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SUDAN: Rebels take over government town in Darfur
KHARTOUM, 21 Sep 2005 (IRIN) - In a further escalation of the conflict in western Sudan, rebels of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) have taken control of the government-controlled town of Shareya, northeast of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State, aid workers said.
"Shareya is a highly fortified town, so clearly there was heavy fighting," George Somerwill, spokesman of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) told reporters on Tuesday.
"Certainly, the firing was of a very intense nature," Cathy Howard, operational advisor for Medecins Sans Frontieres, which had an operational presence in Shareya, told IRIN.
Although it was not immediately clear how many casualties the fighting had claimed, Somerwill feared the impact of the attack on peace negotiations that have started in Abuja, Nigeria, would be considerable.
Sudanese radio reported that the Sudanese government was planning a "strong response".
The fighting forced three humanitarian agencies active in the area to withdraw temporarily, Somerwill added, leaving behind 33,000 people dependent on international support.
"Our team was informed by the SLA to leave the area and as of this morning [Tuesday], our team has evacuated the area," Howard noted.
As a precaution, most humanitarian agencies also withdrew from nearby Mohajuria, where 44,000 people were receiving assistance.
"The longer this lasts, the harder it will be on the affected populations," Somerwill warned, adding that UNMIS was calling on both sides to show maximum restraint.
Humanitarian organisations in the region were expecting a potentially large influx of people into Kalma camp for displaced persons - just outside Nyala - fleeing ahead of an anticipated counter-attack by the Sudanese government.
The offensive occurred shortly after the SLM/A and Darfur's other major rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), filed a complaint with the African Union (AU) ceasefire monitors regarding attacks by armed tribesmen - allegedly supported by the Sudanese government - on SLM/A positions near the Jebel Marra Mountains in central Darfur.
The situation is further complicated by the reported lack of cohesion in the SLM/A's chain of command. Several factions have recently claimed to control the movement's forces on the ground.
The head of the SLM/A delegation in Abuja, Abdulrahman Musa, is thought to be representing the Fur ethnic wing of the movement, loyal to the movement's chairman, Abdul Wahid Mohammed Nur.
A second faction under SLM/A general secretary Mani Arko Minawi, however, represents the militarily powerful Zaghawa wing and has already boycotted the talks. Observers on the ground claim that it was fighters under the control of Minawi who took control of Shareya town.
Banditry and continuous attacks by armed groups on humanitarian workers, Arab nomads and villages in Darfur have increased significantly over the past weeks and threaten to destabilise the fragile ceasefire in the volatile western Sudanese region.
Observers in the region have repeatedly warned that Darfur is at risk of descending into a perpetual state of lawlessness, even as the Sudanese government and the main rebel groups in the war-torn region discuss the possibility of peacefully resolving the conflict.
The sixth round of the Abuja peace talks between the government and the rebels resumed in the Nigerian capital on Thursday.
The parties are currently debating several issues - power sharing, wealth redistribution, security and governance issues - ahead of full political negotiations next weekend, but observers fear the talks might be called off as a result of recent violence.
Meanwhile, a humanitarian source in the capital of North Darfur, El Fasher, said two Rwandan soldiers of the AU Mission in Sudan were wounded on Monday in an ambush and the AU had stopped all activity in the area.
Some shooting could be heard outside El Fasher on Tuesday morning and government soldiers came out in large numbers to reinforce the outskirts of the town.
The conflict in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and allied militias like the Janjawid - accused of terrorising the region's non-Arab tribes - against the SLM/A and the JEM, who claim to be fighting against the marginalisation of their region by Khartoum.
Over 3 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, of whom 1.85 million are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but May not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2005
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