Dead bodies litter streets
2007-10-10 15:25
Khartoum - A Sudanese army assault killed at least 45 people in the Darfur town of Muhajiriya, where bodies littered the streets amid burned out buildings, said rebels who controlled the area.
Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) said: "Until now the number of dead civilians are at least 40, with 80 missing and a large number of injured." It added that five SLA soldiers were killed and eight injured.
The SLA faction led by Minni Arcua Minnawi was the only one of three rebel negotiating groups to sign a May 2006 peace deal with Khartoum and became part of the government.
The statement by SLA Minnawi's military spokesperson Mohamed Hamid Dirbeen said: "Bodies are still lying around the town as this statement is written.
"Some of the victims looked like they had been executed." Reports from the town said the market and many houses were burnt after army vehicles tore through.
Govt planes 'drop bombs'
AU force commander Martin Luther Agwai, who would also command a 26 000-strong joint United Nations-African Union force due to take over from the AU, had earlier said the government planes bombed the town.
He later said his troops had mistaken heavy artillery for aerial bombardment and said although Antonov planes were flying overhead during the attack, they had not released bombs.
He said: "There was no evidence that bombs were dropped. But, the planes were flying overhead." Rebels, however, said the government planes did drop bombs. The Sudanese army was not immediately available to comment.
Some analysts had suggested that a recent surge in violence in Darfur was an effort by warring parties to gain land before AU-UN mediated peace talks in Libya this month. Others said the government might be trying to drive rebels away from the peace process.
Agwai said it was not yet clear what was behind the fighting in Muhajiriya, but initial reports indicated it could be tribal rivalries or a spillover from government clashes with other rebel factions.
He added civilians converged on the nearby AU base for safety. His troops treated about two dozen injured civilians and combatants but did not allow them to enter the base.
Violence displaces 44 500 Darfuris
Muhajiriya, which was home to about 5 000 residents, also hosts more than 44 500 Darfuris displaced by violence elsewhere.
Agwai called for calm ahead of the October 27 peace talks. Agwai said: "It is sad that as we are looking forward to Libya that people have engaged themselves in this activity causing destruction and loss of lives."
Minnawi's group called the attack a "stab in the back of the Darfur peace agreement". Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing Khartoum of neglect.
Khartoum mobilised militias to quell the revolt, which stood accused of war crimes. An estimated 200 000 people had died in the violence and 2.5 million had fled their homes.
Khartoum denied the death toll and said the western media was exaggerating the crisis.
Monday's raid was the latest in a series of deadly attacks that threatened to undermine efforts to bring more of Darfur's armed factions into the peace process and make way for the arrival of UN and AU troops to take over from 7 000 AU forces who had failed to contain the violence in western Sudan.
On September 29, the AU base in Haskanita was attacked and destroyed, killing 10 peacekeepers. Rebels were suspected of being behind the attack on the AU base.
In the following days, while the government controlled Haskanita, the former rebel-held town was burned to the ground and thousands of residents were sent fleeing.
Suleiman Jamous, respected humanitarian co-ordinator for the Sudan Liberation Army, said 105 people died after the town was razed by government forces and allied militia.