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Sudan Army, Rebel Groups Clash in Western Darfur, UN Says
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010By Maram Mazen
May 31 (Bloomberg) — The Sudanese army clashed today with two rebel groups in the western region of Darfur, the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission said.
“The security situation in Darfur is tense following reports of fighting between Sudanese armed forces and the Justice and Equality Movement,” the mission, also known as UNAMID, said today in an e-mailed statement.
The clashes took place in the Um Sauna area, north east of El Daein town in South Darfur state, according to the statement.
Sudanese army spokesman Al Sawarmi Khaled confirmed the reports in a phone interview in Khartoum. The chairman of JEM’s legislative council, El Tahir El Feki, also confirmed the reports in a phone interview from London.
Both sides said they were still counting the number of dead and injured and blamed each other for starting the clashes. Fighting has intensified in the region in recent weeks.
Sudan’s government and JEM signed a cease-fire agreement on Feb. 23 in Doha, the Qatari capital. The two sides didn’t meet a March 15 deadline to sign a final peace accord. Previous agreements have failed to end the conflict in the region, which flared in 2003 when rebels took up arms against the government in Khartoum.
The Sudanese army also clashed with a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army led by Abdel Wahid Nur in the Jebel Marra area in South Darfur state, the mission said.
As many as 300,000 people have died, mainly due to illness and starvation, in the Darfur conflict. More than 2 million people have fled their homes, according to the UN.
–Editors: Stefanie Batcho-Lino, Theo Mullen
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