Darfur rebels ‘release five captured SAF medics to Red Cross’

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) says it released five captured members of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to the International Red Cross in South Jebel Marra on Monday. Speaking on behalf of the SRF, military spokesman for the SLA-Abdel Wahid, Mustapha Tambour, told Radio Dabanga that the prisoners were captured in battle near Golo last year. Tambour revealed that all five SAF prisoners were members of the medical corps and included four women, three of whom are (biological, as opposed to nursing) sisters. Tambour said that Khadija, Faihaa, and Farida Hamdan, as well as Vetoma Abdullah Abdullah, and Sergeant Hamdan Mohamed Hasaballa were handed over to representatives of the Red Cross in the Sorenq area of South Jebel Marra. Radio Dabanga was unable to independently verify this report.Fighting in the region reportedly broke out on 23 December 2012, when the Darfur rebel group SLM-AW claimed to have captured the Guldo garrison, leaving the government with only two strongholds in the area. The UN estimates that more than 30,000 people were displaced as a result of the battles.Guldo is an important junction that connects East and West Jebel Marra, located near the central town of Golo in Central Darfur. File photo: Combatants in the area of Golo, South Jebel MarraRelated: UN: 30.000 flee rebels, government clashes around Golo, C. Darfur (12 January 2013)Darfur battle in Golo leaves tens of soldiers killed (24 December 2012)