JEM admits killing guards of Omdurman-El Fasher fuel convoy

The Justice and Equality Movement admitted that its forces killed five guards of a commercial convoy attacked last week in North Darfur. Ahmed Hussein Adam, spokesman of the movement, disclosed some details about the incident, which was first reported by Radio Dabanga on Saturday.The gun battle occurred Friday between Um Heglig and Um Gozein, a remote stretch of the route between Omdurman and El Fasher. From the initial report it was not clear who had attacked the convoy.

Ahmed Hussein said that a JEM unit was passing through the area when they were fired on by the convoy. The rebel fighters returned fire, killing five guards. The rebel spokesman explained that the government uses some people from the region to guard convoys carrying aircraft fuel. He claimed that the convoy was a legitimate target because such fuel is used by the government to launch deadly raids on the people of Darfur.

JEM has targeted fuel convoys before. In May of this year, JEM reportedly captured at least five fuel tankers.