Sudan attacks Darfur peace partner
Rebel group which signed peace deal with government calls assault “stab in the back”.
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Mohamed Hamid Dirbeen, a Minnawi military spokesman, said there were many victims in the town, although there was no exact figure on casualties.
A UN official said Monday’s attack and charges by rebels that troops had razed another Darfur town and killed 100 people in retaliation for an attack on African Union troops last month, showed the need to provide a planned UN-AU peacekeeping force with sufficient mobility and firepower.
‘Very concerned’
Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of UN peacekeeping operations, said he was “very concerned” with the escalating violence in Darfur less than three weeks before scheduled peace talks in Libya.
“At this stage we cannot formally confirm any particular responsibility but it’s very troubling that the city which was under the control of the government of Sudan could be burnt down,” Guehenno said.
The French diplomat added that the incident “shows the importance of having troops that are very mobile, with the capacity to dominate any situation”.