KHARTOUM, (Reuters) – Armed raiders using mortars and heavy guns seized a Sudanese army base near the Chad border in Darfur yesterday, the second reportedly taken in just over a week, international peacekeepers said.
Sudan’s army denied the base had been taken, telling state media they had routed rebels who attacked the remote settlement of Umm Baru.
The joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force said it could not confirm the identity of the attackers but suspected the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) that has been active in the area.
“Umm Baru was overrun. It has fallen,” said UNAMID information director Kemal Saiki. “Our own base just a few kilometres away heard the heavy gunfire.” Saiki said the attack started at around 4pm (1300 GMT) and ended around 8.30pm.
Any JEM involvement would heighten already deeply troubled relations between Sudan and Chad, as Khartoum accuses the N’Djamena government of backing the insurgent force.
Sudan’s army spokesman Brigadier Uthman al-Agbash told the state Sudanese Media centre his men had defeated the attackers, who he said were JEM backed by Chadian forces. “The army inflicted a heavy toll in lives and property and they were chased out of the area,” he was quoted as saying.
There was no one immediately available to comment on the fighting from JEM.
