The Sudanese government said Saturday that 41 government troops were killed by a Darfur rebel raid into West Kordofan Province that is feared could be a dangerous escalation of the conflict, according to AP. Wednesday's rebel raid on a police garrison in Wad Banda region outside of the war torn Darfur region has been claimed by both the Sudanese Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement, the two main rebel movements fighting the government there for the past three years. «There were 41 martyrs in the area,» said the police statement carried by the Sudan Media Center, a news service close to the government, adding that the rebels targeted civil institutions, medical centers and development projects. The African Union Mission to Sudan denounced the raid in a statement late Friday, saying it was particularly damaging because it came just weeks after consultations with rebel groups in Arusha, Tanzania. «AMIS would like to register, in the strongest terms, its condemnation of this deliberate attack, and of all acts of violence in Sudan, especially at this time when the African Union, the United Nations and the entire international community have converged all efforts toward upcoming peace negotiations,» said the statement.
