SUDAN:SUDAN CUT relations with neighbouring Chad yesterday after a whirlwind assault on Khartoum by Darfuri rebels backed by the Chadian government.
Hundreds of fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) launched an attack on Omdurman, across the Nile from the capital Khartoum, on Friday evening. Sudanese armed forces responded with artillery and helicopter gunships as fighting raged through the weekend.
It is the first time that the war in Darfur has reached the gates of the capital. Analysts said Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of Jem, wanted to show his strength rather than launch a serious attempt to topple the government. But it risks turning the region's proxy war into a real war.
Yesterday the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, announced he was cutting relations with Chad. "These forces are all basically Chadian forces supported and prepared by Chad and they moved from Chad under the leadership of Khalil Ibrahim," he said in a televised address, adding that he reserved the right to retaliate against the "outlaw regime".
The last of the Darfuri rebel forces left the capital yesterday, retreating to some 70km (45 miles) outside the city, a government official and a security source said.
Smoke spiralled into the air above Omdurman's empty streets yesterday, where burnt-out cars smouldered. State TV showed what the government claimed to be captured rebel vehicles.
A British resident of Khartoum said things were calm, although helicopter gunships continued to buzz back and forth across the city. On Saturday, he said he had been able to hear government artillery from his balcony. "People here are very frightened. There has never been an attack on Khartoum and people thought the war was a long way away," he said.
An estimated 300,000 people have died in Darfur's five-year conflict. Peace talks held in Libya last year have stalled, although British prime minister Gordon Brown has offered to host a fresh round.
This year rebels and refugees have crisscrossed the border with Chad. Both governments accuse the other of supporting rival rebel movements to destabilise their rule. Jem commanders deny the involvement of the Chadian government but their close ties to president Idriss Déby - who is from the same Zaghawa tribe as the Jem leader - are no secret.
In February, Jem fighters travelled from Darfur to Chad to protect him from rebels pouring into the Chadian capital, N'Djamena.
Chadian rebels are a common sight on the Sudanese side of the border.
Amjad Atallah of the Save Darfur Coalition said the weekend's assault was the latest in a tit-for-tat war. "It seems that at least in part this is payback for Sudan's support for rebels in Chad who almost toppled the government there in February," he said.
With the rainy season just beginning, it was also one of the last chances for Jem to strengthen its hand before hunkering down for the next few months.
- (Additional reporting: Reuters)