Sudan army repels rebel attack in Darfur

The Sudanese army announced on Sunday that it repelled an attack on South Darfur state by armed groups supported by South Sudan.

"The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces ambushed the terrorist forces and dragged them to the battle field where on Sunday rapid support forces engaged them at Al-Nakhara area, south of the Tulus locality, and inflicted heavy damages to them in both lives and equipment," Xinhua quoted Al-Sawarmy Khalid Saad, Sudanese army spokesman, as saying in a statement.

He said the Sudanese army seized over 100 vehicles once the rebels fled, leaving behind a large number of their colleagues dead on the battle field.

Meanwhile, the army accused South Sudan of harbouring and training rebel groups, saying "Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels have been trained for months by foreign experts at the Raja area in South Sudan's Bahral-Ghazal State with the aim of sabotaging Sudan".

The rebels' plan was mainly to target oil fields, banks and markets at different localities, the statement said.

"The government has repeatedly submitted notes to the South Sudan government drawing its attention to the seriousness of this violation of international and bilateral conventions, yet South Sudan continues to harbour and support terrorists providing them with passages and crossings through which they can enter Sudan."

On Saturday, South Darfur state Governor Adam Mahmoud Jaral-Nabi disclosed that the rapid support forces, which belong to the National Intelligence and Security Service, monitored "huge forces" belonging to the JEM and rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) entering South Darfur coming from South Sudan.

He added that rebel forces were surrounded at al-Amoud Al-Akhdar area, noting that clashes took place between the two sides for two successive days at the Damaso locality, 80 km south of Nyala, the state capital, and at Al-Nakhara area, to the west of Damaso.

Sudan is accusing South Sudan of harbouring and aiding the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which links together three major Darfur rebel groups besides Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/Northern sector.