Roundup: Sudan claims to have won key victory in Darfur against rebels

Sudan claimed on Tuesday that its armed forces have recently won a strategic victory in the Darfur region against the rebel movement in the area.

The government troops said they have seized over 160 armed vehicles loaded with weapons in the key battle against the rebels in an area south of Nyala, capital of the South Darfur state.

The battle, fought between Sudan's Rapid Support Forces and the rebel fighters with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), is considered an important shift in the balance of power in Darfur and the beginning of the end of the military rebellion led by three armed groups including the JEM, led by Jibril Ibrahim, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)/Minni Minnawi faction and the SLA/Abdul-Wahid Nur faction.

"Technically, the rebellion in Darfur has ended with a few remaining pockets in various areas," Brigadier Mohamed Hamdan, commander of the Rapid Support Forces, an affiliate to Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Forces, told a Xinhua team visiting Nyala Tuesday.

"The battle was very important for us, and we can now declare that JEM has been completely destroyed. Before that we destroyed the forces of Minni Minnawi and there is no presence of the forces of Abdul-Wahid Nur on the battlefield. There are only some thieves and bandits whom we will destroy soon," he noted.

He also said that JEM once planned to target large cities in Darfur including Nyala and El Fasher before heading to Khartoum.

Meanwhile, Major Khalifa Abdul-Hafeez, a field commander, told reporters that the majority of the rebels, about 1200, were killed, some were arrested and about 40 others fled to South Sudan.

Abdul-Hafeez further attributed the recent victory to "full coordination and joint effort" between the Rapid Support Forces, the Sudanese army and regular forces.

Major General Adil Hamad Al-Neel, head of the 16th Infantry Division of the Sudanese army, reiterated the importance of the Qouz Dango battle victory.

"This battle will greatly transform the security situation in Darfur," Al-Neel told Xinhua Tuesday.

"We can say that the crux of the rebellion has been broken, namely JEM, and will need a long time to repair its status if it thinks of returning to the battle field," he noted.

Armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the Darfur rebel movement have recently escalated coinciding with the recent presidential election, in which the current President Omar al-Bashir won an easy re-election with over 90 percent of the votes.

The Sudanese army said late last month that it repelled an attack by rebel forces, backed by South Sudan, against South Darfur State.

Sudan is accusing South Sudan of harboring and aiding the Revolutionary Front Alliance, which links together three major Darfur rebel groups besides Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/Northern sector.

Two days after the Gouz Dango battle, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened to send troops into South Sudan to disarm anti-Sudanese government military groups.

"We have the right to defend ourselves against any agent or criminal even if in Raja, Aweil or Juba," said al-Bashir, who then visited the battle field at Gouz Dango in South Darfur. Endit