Darfur Rebels Say Sudan Army Base Seized

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM, May 17 (Reuters) - Darfur's rebel Justice and Equality Movement said on Sunday it attacked Sudanese government troops in north Darfur, forcing them out of a strategic base in the latest of a series of clashes in the area.

U.N. sources confirmed Sudanese government soldiers were attacked on Saturday afternoon in the town of Kornoi, which is on a key road, but no one was immediately available to comment from the Sudanese army.

The reports will stoke growing tensions in the volatile area which borders Chad. Sudan accused Chad of launching three airstrikes in north Darfur on Friday and Saturday.

Diplomatic sources in Khartoum have said JEM may be planning a major offensive in Darfur, partly in retaliation for an incursion by Chadian insurgents into Chad earlier this month.

Sudan's government says JEM is backed by Chad, while Chad accuses Khartoum of supporting insurgents in its territory.

"JEM has taken Kornoi. We attacked a garrison there. We want to clear them out of the area," JEM leader Khaili Ibrahim told Reuters by satellite telephone, saying the two-hour battle had taken place late afternoon on Saturday.

"We now control a very large area. JEM will proceed to control the whole area - the whole of Darfur, including the capitals (El Fasher, El Geneina and Nyala, the capitals of the states of north, west and south Darfur)."

Ibrahim said there had been casualties on both sides, but it was too early to release statistics.

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