Darfur rebels claim repelling military attack in Jebel Marra

Armed rebels in Darfur announced that their forces clashed with Rapid Support Forces of the Sudanese government in northern Jebel Marra yesterday morning. They claimed that the militias shelled four villages.

The Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) under the command of Abdelwahid El Nur “repelled a a new attack launched by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the rebels’ sites at Buli and Aja in northern Jebel Marra on Thursday morning”, according to spokesman Walid Mohamed Abakar.

Abakar claimed that the battle resulted in the killing of 79 RSF troops that arrived from Kabkabiya, as well as the destruction of nine Land Cruisers and seizing various weapons.

“The RSF shelled four villages during their withdrawal: Keila North and South, Biraka Tousi and Hillet Sofi,” the spokesman told Radio Dabanga. “These attacks led to the displacement of a large number of residents into the mountains and caves.”

Shelling during clashes between government and rebel forces caused the death of six people and many others wounded in western and southern Jebel Marra two weeks ago.

Spokesmen of the RSF or Sudanese army often refrain from commenting on military operations, however, last week the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused the SLM-AW of carrying out isolated provocative attacks in Jebel Marra in Darfur to force the armed forces to respond militarily.

Countries such as the USA, UK, and Norway, have condemned the ongoing clashes between the SLM-AW rebels and Sudan’s army and militias.

In early March, the Sudanese army and allied militias began to attack various areas in the mountainous Jebel Marra region, in an attempt to eliminate the last strongholds of El Nur’s rebel group. Since this time, at least 50,000 people fled the fighting and militia attacks on their villages