Sudan Revolutionary Front claims full control of Gereida

The Sudan Revolutionary Front said a joint force led by the two factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid and Minni Minawi has gained full control of Gereida locality in Darfur. Witnesses from Gereida told Radio Dabanga ‘opposition forces’ are now in control of the area. The Front’s official spokesman Abu Al-Qasim Al-Hajj said that the alliance managed to seize two tanks and eight vehicles in good condition with a large amount of weapons. He said the captured soldiers are still being counted. The military spokesman for the SLM-MM told Radio Dabanga that Abdel Wahid Movement forces tightened a grip on the head of the army and police. He said the two forces of the SLM are now searching the area for soldiers that managed to flee. The spokesman asserted that this marked the beginning of military operations to overthrow the regime in Khartoum, noting that the entry into Gereida was in response to calls of citizens who said they were being targeted and displaced by government forces and militias. Soldiers fled to UNAMID Witnesses also said that opposition forces had taken full control of Gereida with government troops and officials said to be fleeing to the UN/African Union Mission in Darfur headquarters for protection or on the road to Nyala. They also said there had been heavy aerial bombardment near Gereida but no casualties among civilians. But they fear Gereida will become a battleground between the government and opposition movements and called on them to move their fighting away from civilian areas.