Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Darfour rebels have been advancing toward the capital of
Sudan.

The rebel Justice and Equality Movement has launched an offensive from
the war-torn Darfour province toward the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. On
April 27, the rebel coalition, amid the first formal peace talks with the
government in two years, attacked Um Rawaba, a trading hub located 500
kilometers south of the capital.

“The goal of this attack is to weaken the government to realize our
strategic plan to topple the regime,” JEM spokesman Jibril Bilal said.

This marked the first rebel offensive outside Darfour since 2008, when
fighters reached the outskirts of Khartoum before repelled by heavy air and artillery strikes. Since then, rebel operations have been limited to Darfour and the provinces near South Sudan, established in 2011.

The Sudanese military, which conducted air strikes, has acknowledged the
latest rebel offensive. But a military spokesman said JEM and its allies
were driven out of Um Rawaba, located in the North Kordofan state, after
they destroyed a power depot and fuel stations.

“The defeated rebels have withdrawn,” Sudanese Army spokesman Sawarmi
Khalid said. “The army is continuing to expel elements of the rebels who
have run away in different directions.”

On April 28, anti-government protesters rampaged through Um Rawaba and
torched government offices. Hundreds of protesters, who charged the Khartoum
regime with failing to protect them, also attacked the visiting governor of
North Kordofan.

The rebel coalition, formed in 2011, included the Sudanese People’s
Liberation Movement-North. The group reported the capture of four villages
in the South Kordofan state, which has seen the bulk of the fighting over
the last two years.

“This is an attack deep in Sudanese territory,” Bilal, the JEM
spokesman, said.

  Darfour rebels push toward Sudan’s capital, Justice and Equality Movement, Nort Kordofan, Um Rawaba