JEM clashes with Sudan army in east Darfur

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) yesterday clashed with the Sudanese Armed Forces at Uzban Duma in eastern Darfur, according to a rebel official. Ali Wafi, the JEM military spokesman, said that the rebel forces destroyed seven (7) combat vehicles of the government. They took captives and seized arms of different types. Radio Dabanga could not immediately reach the Sudanese army spokesman for comment, but he later told the United Nations’ Radio Miraya FM that JEM forces entered the area of Uzban wreaking havoc, causing the army to intervene. Army spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled Sa’ad claimed that forty-three (43) JEM fighters were killed and nineteen (19) wounded. These figures were denied by JEM official Al Tahir Al Faki, who claimed that in the fighting on Tuesday only five (5) of the movement’s fighters were lost and eight (8) were wounded.

Uzban Duma was the site of another clash earlier this month, after which a JEM commander claimed to Radio Dabanga that the rebels defeated a government mobile unit, capturing 32 vehicles.

In a separate interview, Nimr Abdelrahman, the spokesman of the Sudan Liberation Army of Abdel Wahid Al Nur, condemned the attack on peacekeepers that took place Monday. He accused a pro-government militia of being behind the attack on the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which lost three soldiers in a firefight. Not only that, he said, but every attack against UNAMID have been carried out by pro-government militia. He appealed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to change the mandate of UNAMID to at least enable them to defend themselves. On this same topic, the Mission released a statement yesterday by Force Commander Lt. General Patrick Nyamvumba saying that “peacekeepers have an inherent right to self defense.” 

Updated 24 June