The Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy strongly condemns attacks carried out by the Janjaweed militia on August 13 in North Darfur, near the Darfur-Libya border The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) is based in this area and the attacks killed more than 20 civilians and 12 rebels. Over 500 Janjaweed, using more than 200 vehicles, launched the attacks. It is evident that the Al-Bashir regime is trying to eliminate any opposition groups in order to prevent peace negotiations from succeeding.
SLA leader Suleiman Ibrahim Maragan reported that the government wants to clear the area for oil companies from Saudi "Alqhatani" and allow the Chinese to operate and search for oil in the area called 12A. Damanga is very distressed by this new development as it indicates that the National Congress Party (NCP) regime does not desire peace in Darfur or Sudan. We also believe that Al-Bashir is using these attacks to show his strength and prolong the conflict.
Damanga strongly urges the international community, especially the UN Security Council, to immediately contain the situation and deploy the 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur before it is too late.
