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July 21, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan army on Thursday said it captured the top military leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) during clashes in the war-battered state of South Kordofan, dousing its own claims that the Darfur rebel group was not part of clashes in the area.
- SAF officials in a press conference (FILE – Reuters Pictures)
Earlier on Tuesday, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) dismissed reports that JEM forces had participated in an attack mounted by forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Al-Tais area in South Kordofan.
SAF’s official spokesman, Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, was quoted as saying that any reports on the participation of JEM in Al-Tais attack “lacks credibility and evidences.”
However, SAF was happy to announce on Thursday the capture of JEM’s military commander in South Kordofan during Al-Tais clashes.
In a press release reported by the country’s official news agency (SUNA), SAF confirmed that the clashes which took place in Al-Tais on 17 July had involved joint forces of JEM and the SPLM.
The commander of SAF’s fifth brigade in the area, Fadul al-Mula Mohamed Ahmad, said his forces had “inflicted enormous losses of lives and properties” on the joint forces.
JEM’s top military commander in South Kordofan, Brigade-General Al-Toom Toto, was arrested during the clashes, according to SAF official.
The alleged JEM commander was quoted by SUNA as confirming his arrest and saying he had sustained a head injury after the vehicle he was using was destroyed due to the shelling.
Toto was further quoted as saying he had received logistical support from the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) which facilitated his journey from Raja in Darfur to South Kordofan. The SPLM are the ruling party of independent South Sudan after the country became independent on July 9 as part of a peace deal with the North.
For much of the 21 year North-South civil war groups from South Kordofan and Blue Nile joined former Southern rebels the SPLM in their conflict with Khartoum.
Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad also told SUNA that JEM’s commander was in the custody of the army and would be brought to the competent judicial bodies in the coming days.
Khartoum is likely to be uncomfortable with any sign of coordination between rebel groups in Darfur and the SPLM in South Kordofan.
South Kordofan violence, which erupted on 5 June, has so far displaced more than 70,000 people and killed hundreds, according to UN figures.
The Western region of Darfur has been in a state of war since ethnic rebels took up arms against the government in 2003.
(ST)
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