‘Egypt involved in Darfur attacks’: Al Bashir

President Omar Al Bashir officially accused Egypt of involvement in the fighting in areas in North and East Darfur states on Sunday.

The Sudanese president addressed veterans of the Sudan Armed Forces during the General Command today. He claimed that the attacking forces came from the countries of South Sudan and Libya and drove in Egyptian armoured vehicles.

“Egypt has not supported our government for 20 years – neither during the war in southern Sudan, on the pretext that it was an internal affair.” He said that 59 armoured vehicles were destroyed out of the 64 vehicles that entered from two sides simultaneously – from South Sudan and from the border with North Darfur.

Al Bashir commended the Sudanese army for “achieving victories despite plots and conspiracies” by the rebel movements.

Since Friday, fighting has been taking place between Sudanese government forces and combatants of holdout rebel movements in North and East Darfur, with reports of large numbers of casualties on both sides. The Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minawi (SLM-MM) and the SLM-Transitional Council are involved in the fighting.

The security committee in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, issued orders to strengthen security measures around the city's main gates and to deepen the trench surrounding it, for precautionary measures against renewed fighting.

At a press conference in Khartoum on Monday, Dr Amin Hassan Omar, Presidential Envoy for Negotiation and Diplomatic Communication on the Darfur File said that the recent attack aims to delay the permanent lift of U.S. economic sanctions imposed on Sudan. He added it is well known that Egypt supports Libya and South Sudan militarily.

The Joint Special Representative of the UN-AU peacekeeping Mission in Darfur (Unamid), Jeremiah Mamabolo, has expressed the Mission’s deep concerns about the renewed clashes in Darfur.