By Xinhua,
Washington : The United States Saturday condemned the rebel attacks in Sudan and called for an immediate end to the fighting.
“The United States condemns the recent attack by Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) forces in the area of Omdurman, near Khartoum,” the State Department said in a statement.
“We call for an immediate end to fighting. These actions undermine the ongoing efforts of the international community to support resolution of the conflicts in Sudan,” the statement said.
The United States “implores both JEM and the Government of Sudan to guard against attacks against civilians in Omdurman and Darfur, and warns both sides against taking any retaliatory action based on ethnicity or tribe,” the statement added.
The Sudanese government confirmed earlier fighting took place Saturday in the capital Khartoum between army troops and rebels coming from the restive western Sudanese region of Darfur. The infiltration attempt by the JEM rebels had been crushed by the Sudanese government troops.
The JEM, led by Khalil Ibrahim, is believed to have the most powerful rebel forces among some two dozens of rebel groups in Darfur, which has been plagued by an armed conflict for five years.