Khartoum: Almost 100 Sudanese soldiers were killed along with at least 91 Darfur rebels and 34 civilians in several days of fighting during an unprecedented assault on Khartoum, the army said today.

An army spokesman giving official casualty figures for the first time said that the army had been battling the rebel force since Wednesday last as it headed from the western region of Darfur to the capital in at least 150 vehicles.

The assault by the Justice and Equality Movement, the most powerful of the rebel groups in Darfur, saw the insurgents reach Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman on Saturday with the declared intent of toppling the regime.

"Ninety-seven Sudanese security forces were killed, including four officers, in Omdurman and other battles," the spokesman told reporters, asking not to be named.

He said that 91 rebels, which he referred to as "Chadian forces" following allegations of Ndjamena's involvement, were killed in Omdurman and "a lot more" in battles outside the city.

He said that 34 civilians were killed in the fighting in Omdurman, just across the Nile from the seat of power in Khartoum, including two Egyptians and two Senegalese. He could not say how many civilians were wounded.

The army captured 68 rebel vehicles and destroyed 75, he said, some of them outside the capital and Omdurman.

He said that two Sudanese soldiers were till missing. He said he had no figures on how many had been wounded.
Source : PTI