Sudan: Darfur rebels claim shooting gov’t warplane

(SomaliNet) Sudan’s Darfur rebels said on Wednesday they had shot down a government fighter bomber over the arid western Sudanese region, although it was not immediately possible to confirm the claim.

\"Justice and Equality Movement fighters shot down a MiG fighter bomber over Darfur on Tuesday,\" JEM spokesman Beji Ezz al-Din told AFP by telephone, saying he could not provide further details.

A spokesperson at the defence ministry in Khartoum said he could not confirm any plane was missing.

Meanwhile, Darfur rebels have in the past claimed to have shot down military transport planes and helicopters.

At least 200 000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced since the conflict erupted in Darfur more than four years ago. Some sources say the toll is much higher, according to the United Nations.

A peace agreement was signed in May 2006 with the Sudanese government, but only one of three negotiating rebel factions endorsed the deal. The violence has since spiralled and rebel splinters have flourished.

Eight Darfur rebel groups including the JEM agreed on Monday at talks in Arusha, Tanzania on a common platform for peace negotiations with the Sudanese government that they said could start within three months.

The unified position for the fractious rebels came after the UN Security Council last week ordered the deployment of 26 000 peacekeepers to Darfur. - Sapa-AFP