KHARTOUM: Sudanese forces bombed the outskirts of a rebel-held town in southern Darfur yesterday as the UN secretary-general said peacekeepers would not heed an official request to leave the area. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told journalists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa that the joint UN-African Union peackeeping force will remain in the town of Muhajeria and all sides needed to show restraint, urging rebels to pull out of the town. The force is there to protect civilians displaced by the six-year civil war in the arid western region of Sudan.
The spokesman for the peacekeepers, Nourredine Mezni confirmed to the Associated Press that government planes were bombing the outskirts of the town and some 5,000 residents were now taking refuge around the peacekeepers’ compound.
Rebel spokesman Ahmed Tugod said government planes were bombing the outskirts of the town yesterday and asserted that his forces, which captured the town Jan. 15, would stay and fight government forces. Sudan told the peacekeepers on Sunday to leave so that they could retake the town after rebels seized it.
“I urge maximum restraint on President Omar Bashir and have urged the Justice and Equality Movement rebels to withdraw from the city to protect innocent civilians,” Ban said.
Earlier, mediators tried to avert a Sudanese attack on a rebel-held town in Darfur.
UN-AU mediator Djbril Bassole planned to fly to neighboring Chad to meet leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement rebels, he said.
