KHARTOUM, April 12 (RIA Novosti) – Heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and a coalition of armed groups in north Darfur has been going on for the past three days, a rebel spokesman said on Tuesday.
Abu Bakr Hamid, secretary of the Justice and Equality Movement, told Dabanga Radio that the insurgents had captured 50 Sudanese servicemen and destroyed 27 military vehicles, including four tanks, and shot down a combat helicopter.
Casualties were reported on both sides but no figures were immediately available.
About 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and 1.8 million have fled their homes since non-Arab rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime in 2003, according to UN data. The government puts the death toll at 10,000.