ASMARA, 15 April 2006 — Rebels from eastern Sudan said yesterday they had destroyed two government military camps in attacks they launched this week with allies from the troubled western region of Darfur.
The Eastern Front said the bases in Kassala province had been destroyed in strikes Tuesday carried out by its forces and members of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Army.
In separate statements released from its office in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, the Eastern Front said the joint attacks had taken out camps held by government troops in the towns of Waqar and Tenniyay in Kassala.
In the first statement, the front said it and the JEM had “launched a surprise attack” on the camp in Waqar. It said the camp housed soldiers who had “regularly terrorized local communities.”
“Our joint forces destroyed the military camp, its ammunition depots (and) military hardware and seized several vehicles along with large quantities of arms,” it said. “This action serves notice to the ruling party that the New Sudan forces remain steadfast in their opposition and condemnation of exclusionist and marginalizing policies,” the Eastern Front said.
“The attack is a reminder to Khartoum that without an inclusive and comprehensive peaceful settlement of all conflicts, civil wars will spread and intensify with dire consequences,” it said, referring to Darfur and the east.
In the second statement, the Eastern Front said it and the SLA had seized and destroyed the Tenniyay military camp, beating off heavy resistance from Khartoum’s troops. It said it had captured seven government soldiers and seized weapons and vehicles.
Sudanese troops based at Tenniyay had “routinely harassed, kidnapped and assassinated citizens of the region,” the front said, adding that it and the SLA wanted a “simultaneous settlement” to the conflicts in the east and Darfur.
There was no immediate reaction to the statements from Khartoum, although a Sudanese military spokesman said Wednesday that 11 civilians and two attackers had been killed in two rebel raids in Kassala, near the Eritrean border.
The spokesman did not mention any dead, wounded or captured on the government side but said that reinforcements and air support had been sent to counter attacks by the rebels, who had then withdrawn to the border.
Meanwhile, the United Nations and African Union officials disclosed yesterday an agreement to establish “mechanisms for coordination and joint planning” for the takeover of the UN Peacekeeping Operation from the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) on peacekeeping duty in Darfur by Sept. 30.
In a joint communique, the two organizations said the agreement was reached by teams from the AU Commission and the UN Secretariat in talks Wednesday and Thursday in Addis Ababa.
It was agreed that the mechanisms would work in consultation with the government of Sudan and other parties concerned, the organizations said, adding that AMIS would be strengthened until its planned takeover by the UN Peacekeeping Operation.
