Sudan army admits losses in the Wadi Mora fighting

The Armed Forces acknowledged for the first time yesterday that it had sustained losses in the battle of Wadi Mora in North Darfur last Tuesday. The army on Tuesday clashed with a joint force of the Liberation and Justice Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army factions of Minni Minawi and Abdel Wahid.The Armed Forces spokesman Al Sawarmi Khaled Saad told Radio Dabanga that four army vehicles were destroyed in the that battle, while the rebels seized six other cars and destroyed fuel supplies. On the other hand, a rebel commander claimed last Tuesday that the number of destroyed army vehicles was 20 and the number of captured was 30.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Al Sawarmi denied that the convoy of soldiers involved in the fighting consisted of recently graduated recruits. Al Sawarmi said that the army was carrying out reconnaissance operations and did a large-scale search in areas of East Jebel. Commenting on reports of aerial bombardment, he said it is the Armed Forces’ right to use air power, but denied that the military was targeting civilians in these raids.