Sudan's JEM rebels take control of Darfur town: UN

KHARTOUM (AFP) – Rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement have taken control of Muhajaria town in the western Sudan region of Darfur, the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission there said on Sunday.

JEM forces have been clashing with ex-rebels from the Sudanese Liberation Army faction of Minni Minawi, the only group to have signed a peace deal with Khartoum, which traditionally controls the area, UNAMID said in a statement.

JEM has "taken full control of Muhajaria, South Darfur," after fierce fighting that has led to additional suffering to the civilian population in the area," UNAMID said.

The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Sudan Kenro Oshidari said on Saturday the fighting has caused an unknown number of deaths and injuries after "levels of violence previously not seen in the town."

Peacekeepers have evacuated six critically injured people, UNAMID said.

An aid agency office has been destroyed and UNAMID peacekeepers are on the ground to protect the local population, the statement said, expressing "grave concern for the lives and safety of the civilian population."

The war in Darfur began in 2003 when African ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-led Khartoum regime and state-backed Arab militias, fighting for resources and power in one of the most remote and deprived places on earth.

The conflict has since deteriorated with the emergence of a multiplying array of rebel groups, breakaway militias and bandits.