KHARTOUM/NAIROBI, 28 December 2003 — Rebels from western Sudan said yesterday they had killed 621 government troops and members of Arab militias in a two-day battle in the arid region of Darfur.
A government armed forces statement issued late on Friday night confirmed that a number of soldiers were killed or wounded when they repulsed an attack by “bandits” in a “fierce battle”, but gave no figures. The Justice and Equality Movement, one of two main rebel groups waging a revolt in Darfur since February, said fighters ambushed a force of 4,500 to 5,000 government troops who were advancing towards the rebel-held town of Tina on the Chad border.
“We killed 621 of them and shot down two helicopters. Many of them fled to Chad across the border,” JEM Secretary-General Muhammad Basher Ahmed told Reuters by telephone from Darfur.
Meanwhile, peace talks between the government and southern rebels to discuss the remaining sticking points in a peace process aimed at ending two decades of civil war resumed on Friday, mediators said. “The two leaders have resumed negotiations after the Christmas holiday,” chief mediator Lazaro Sumbeiywo, a retired Kenyan Army general, told AFP by telephone from Naivasha, 80 kilometers northwest of the Nairobi.
