Officials said the military offensive was meant to drive out rebels from
areas of Darfour. They said the rebels were endangering the operations of
the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force, or UNAMID.
In 2010, several members of the joint peacekeeping force were abducted
or killed. The Sudanese military said the UN had ignored Khartoum's warnings
of an increasingly dangerous rebel presence.
The Sudanese Liberation Army has been one of the two major rebel groups
still operating in Darfour. A rival of the SLA, led by Abdul Wahed Mohammed
Nour, has been the Justice and Equality Movement, which has refused to sign
a reconciliation agreement with the Khartoum regime.
In his briefing, Saad said rebels have killed more than 200 people,
including civilians, in Jebel Mara. He said about 100,000 people have fled
the recent fighting between rebel groups as well as their attacks on UNAMID.
On March 5, suspected rebels attacked a UNAMID convoy on its way to
Deribat, the largest city in Jebel Mara. The alleged SLA force was said to
have captured seven peacekeeping vehicles as well as scores of assault
rifles.
"This will have an impact in the Jebel Mara region," Saad said.