Dozens Reported Dead In Darfur Attack

Rebels in Sudan's Darfur region have accused the government army of being behind attacks last night that led to the death of scores of people. 

The fighting in the rebel-controlled Tabra district on Thursday continued into Friday morning.

VOA reporter Alsanosi Ahmed says that over 200 attackers came on horseback and a similar number on four-wheel drive trucks.  A third group of attackers believed to be from the government side also joined into the attacks.

Ibrahim al-Helwu, a spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army,  says more than 50 people were killed and more than 150 others wounded.  Al-Helwu represents the SLA faction loyal to Abdelwahid Nur.

The French news agency quotes a Sudanese army spokesman as saying the SLA claims are "completely baseless," and that there have been no clashes between the army and the rebels.  

"The attacks involved the Ginir and another Darfur tribe [which] are on high alert and expecting more attacks from this third party…the tribes say the third party is the government [army],”  says Ahmed.

The United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur said it received reports of the fighting,  though the area is far removed from the jurisdiction of the  hybrid AU/UN mission, UNAMID.