Khartoum bombs Darfur region

Aerial attacks comes after AU forces were asked to leave

KHARTOUM, Tuesday

Sudanese planes bombed close to a rebel-held town in Darfur on Monday after the government asked peacekeepers to leave ahead of a planned assault, the international force said.

Thousands of civilians took shelter around a base run by the joint UN/African Union force in the south Darfur town of Muhajiriya, a spokesman for the peacekeepers said.

UNAMID said Khartoum asked peacekeepers to withdraw on Sunday because the army was preparing to take the town back from Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels, who seized it last month.

“But we are not going to leave while there are thousands of displaced people around our camp,” UNAMID spokesman Noureddine Mezni said. “The Sudanese Government should be aware that their actions are endangering civilians and UNAMID.”

The UNAMID mission is undermanned and underequipped while tension is escalating in Darfur ahead of an expected decision by International Criminal Court judges on whether to indict Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes.

Mr Mezni said mediators were trying to talk to the government and rebels to prevent fighting over Muhajiriya.

UNAMID officials said peacekeepers had reported bombing around 3km east of the town on Monday. No one was immediately available to comment from Sudan’s armed forces.

Rebel forces

Air attacks in Darfur are banned in UN Security Council resolutions, but Sudan’s army has said it has the right to confront rebel forces who have not signed peace accords.

Mr Mezni said the UN/AU representative in Darfur, Rodolphe Adada, met government officials in Khartoum on Monday to discuss the crisis. UN/AU mediator Djbril Bassole planned to fly to neighbouring Chad to meet rebel leaders, he said. (Reuters)