VZCZCXRO6305
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0652/01 1371428
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 171428Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3802
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000652 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/C 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: A BREAK IN THE QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT: GOC FORCES AND 
JEM PUSH INTO SUDANESE TERRITORY 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 621 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: There was conflict in Darfur on two fronts during 
May 14-17. On May 14, Government of Chad (GOC) forces pursued 
Chadian rebels into West Darfur, and unidentified aircraft bombed 
Chadian rebel encampments on May 15-16 near the Sudanese village of 
Sarow, 25 kilometers south of Mukjar.  In North Darfur, unconfirmed 
reports indicated that Government of Sudan (GOS) forces lost 
territory to rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on 
May 15-16, and unidentified aircraft and a column of JEM vehicles 
were spotted moving into Darfur near the towns of Tina and Karnoi. 
Rebel sources claimed that SLA/MM and the GOS were unable to defend 
Um Barru from JEM. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
UNAMID CONFIRMS WEST DARFUR BOMBING MAY 14-15 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to multiple UNAMID sources, on May 14 at around 
noon, a retreating group of Chadian rebels was pursued by the GoC 
army and ambushed near Juguma el Garbiya, some 60 km southwest of 
Bendisi, inside Sudanese territory.  The rebels dispersed with some 
fleeing to Garsila, and others to Mukjar and other locations.  Some 
of them arrived in Mukjar at around 18:00, and later that evening 
some of the injured were sent to hospitals in Garsila and Nyala.QLargu grnup3 oF Chcdian rubelr0rgpoqpe` an W%st D`Bfr ousmdeQqpoo,060k$_uth$QfMw+ja*`Cbombing followed later 
that afternoon.  One source told UNAMID he subsequently observed two 
Chadian rebel Land Cruisers with some 18 soldiers outside Mukjar. 
The rebels reportedly were buying food in the Mukjar market when 
they were advised by security services to move their vehicles 
outside of town to avoid possible bombing by the GOC. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On May 16, UNAMID sent a verification patrol to the area to 
verify the reports of the bombings.  The patrol team halted at a 
village called Salaf Saada (13 km from Mukjar) and interacted with 
the local sheik, who confirmed that the villages heard the bombing. 
The UNAMID patrol proceeded to Duldul, where the team spoke with 
local Arab nomads who stated that on May 15 at approximately 08:00, 
two black aircraft (type unknown, but presumably fixed wing) dropped 
several bombs at a mountain called Jabel Safu.  Later that day at 
approximately 13:00, two aircraft again dropped bombs near Sarow, 
where the Chadian rebels had regrouped the previous evening.  On May 
16, local residents there spotted two white aircraft flying over the 
area, and at about 13:00 they heard bombings in the direction of 
Sarow.  The UNAMID verification patrol could see the hill in the 
distance.  The hilltop and its slopes were burnt, they could not 
establish the cause of the burning.  They also could not climb to 
the top of the hill due to the rugged nature of its terrain.  There 
was no clear evidence to indicate where the aircraft were coming 
from.  Additional residents confirmed that the aircraft that carried 
out the alleged strike on May 15 were black, while the ones that 
carried out the alleged strike on May 16 were white. 
 
------------------------------------ 
JEM ALLEGEDLY TAKES KARNOI, UM BARRO 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Meanwhile, UNAMID received unconfirmed reports on May 17 
of continued clashes in western North Darfur near the key towns of 
Tina, Karnoi and Um Barro, in disputed SLA/Minnawi territory. 
Following clashes last week between the Justice and Equality 
Movement (JEM) and SLA/Minnawi (reftel), UNAMID sources also 
indicated fighting in North Darfur between Sudanese Armed Forces 
(SAF) and JEM on May 15 in Karnoi, approximately 20 km from the 
Chadian border.  The Sultan of Tina (a Sudanese garrison town on the 
Chadian border) told UNAMID that the GOS encampment there had been 
taken over by JEM on May 15, and GOS survivors were allegedly 
retreating from Tina.  The same source also alleged that on May 16 
at approximately 19:00, a long column of vehicles supposedly 
belonging to JEM was sighted crossing the Chadian border into Sudan 
and moving toward Karnoi.  On the evening of May 16, UNAMID observed 
several unidentified aircraft entering Sudanese airspace.  The first 
was seen flying in the direction of El Fasher, and several hours 
later a second was observed flying at a high altitude from the 
opposite direction, towards Chad, with its lights out.  (Note: Post 
recognizes that these observations are inconclusive and cannot be 
substantiated.  We pass them along for what they are worth in the 
 
KHARTOUM 00000652  002 OF 002 
 
 
interest of providing additional details on what remains a murky 
situation along the Chad-Sudan border. End note.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Numerous sources associated with Darfuri rebel factions 
indicated that fighting continues to rage in the area of Dar 
Zaghawa, and by the afternoon of May 17, no sources indicated that 
SLA/MM still occupied any territory in western North Darfur.  Ahmed 
Hassan Bahar of SLA/MM told polasst on May 17 that beginning on May 
9, SLA/MM initially defeated JEM forces, but upon pursuing them, 
SLA/MM fighters fell into a JEM ambush in which  a number of SLA/MM 
fighters were killed and their  equipment seized.  SLA/AW commander 
Abdullah Khalil told polasst on May 17 that JEM now controls the 
former SLA/MM base Um Barru (visited by Special Envoy Williamson in 
August 2008,) and from there territory east to Shegeg Karo and west 
to Karnoi.  (Note: These are remote areas in the heart of Dar 
Zaghawa that are now largely deserted by their former occupants as a 
result of the war. End note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sources within SLA/Minnawi describe their movement as 
struggling to determine a new strategy following last week's clashes 
with JEM.   Some have indicated that the movement is wavering 
between pulling back from its remaining territory, or attacking 
JEM's positions (to be reported in septel.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: If the deserted towns of western North Darfur fall 
into the hands of Khalil Ibrahim's JEM (as events indicate they 
may,) this will  represent a defeat not only for Minni Minnawi, 
whose hometown is Um Barru, but also for the SAF, whose garrison 
towns form the first line of defense against any rebel march to El 
Fasher and beyond.  It is unclear what JEM's next steps will be, 
however, as JEM  will hardly endear itself to the people of Darfur 
by causing chaos through an attack on El Fasher or any other town in 
Darfur or Sudan.  More likely, JEM is trying to eliminate its 
primary Zaghawa rival (Minnawi) while also showing (somewhat weakly) 
that it does actually control some remote territory in Darfur.  It 
should be noted that until three weeks ago, JEM was not physically 
present in Darfur (since it limped back across the border in March 
following its February raid on Muhajaria in South Darfur). 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment Cont.: The situation with the Chadian rebels in 
West Darfur bears watching in the context of the Sudan-Chad proxy 
war.  The GOS protested formally to P-5 COMs on May 15 and in a 
one-on-one with acting CDA Asquino on May 16.  In those meetings, 
the GOS noted that until now it has reacted with "restraint" to the 
Chadian aerial bombings in Sudan (without mentioning that the GOC is 
attacking Chadian rebels on Sudanese territory who until recently 
were involved in armed skirmishes in Chad.)   In the past the GOS 
has pointed to Chadian incursions as a way to justify an increase in 
its own aerial bombing of JEM positions; we expect to see increased 
GOS surveillance and bombing of JEM's newly-acquired positions in 
North Darfur in the coming days.  End comment. 
 
ASQUINO