In a Sudanese radio interview on April 12, Hamid said JEM destroyed 25
armored combat vehicles deployed by the Army. He said four of these were
Russian-origin main battle tanks.
JEM also claimed the capture of 50 Sudanese soldiers. No word of
casualties was provided by either the rebels or Khartoum.
This year, the Sudanese Army has renewed operations in Darfour in an attempt
to prevent the resurgence of the revolt in the western province. The rebels
said the Army offensive in Darfour was meant to stop JEM and other rebels
from helping the autonomous southern government in operations against
Khartoum-backed militias ahead of planned secession in July.
On April 13, the United Nations reported the killing of 800 and
displacement of 94,000 in southern Sudan so far in 2011. The UN cited 151
attacks and other violent incidents over the last month.
"We are worried that we have seven militias that are active," UN
humanitarian representative in southern Sudan, Lisa Grande, said. "If the
security continues to deteriorate as we have seen recently, then we have to
expect that we are going to have more people who are going to need emergency
aid."