Tensions escalate between Sudan and Chad on Darfur border

Tensions in Sudan's western Darfur region escalated Monday as the Sudanese army accused neighboring Chad of new border violations and Darfur rebels claimed to take another town from government forces.

A large number of Darfur refugees who live in camps on either side of the volatile border risk being "the first victims of any further escalation" if the situation is not "immediately brought under control," the head of the United Nations mission to Darfur said in a statement Monday.

The 26,000-strong U.N. and African mission to Darfur is already far behind schedule, and mission chief Rodolphe Adada warned the border tensions could have "a negative effect" on the peacekeepers' deployment.

Sudan's military spokesman, Brig. Osman Mohamed al-Aghbash, told the daily Al-Akhbar Al-Youm that the Chadian air force had attacked the Wadi Radi area near the West Darfur state capital of El Geneina a day earlier, killing three people.

"We consider this a hostile act inside Sudanese territory," al-Aghbash said.

The military spokesman said Sudan was ready to face any further Chadian attack or threat. "Our units in western Sudan and in west Darfur in particular are fully prepared to repulse any hostile action from Chad or from any other side," the general said.

The Sudanese state minister for Foreign Affairs, Salman al-Wasilla, denied Sudan was backing the Chadian rebels who operate in the area. Chad's recent threats to severe diplomatic relations between the two countries are "regrettable," al-Wasilla was quoted as saying by the official Sudanese News Agency. He claimed the Chadian government continued to arm Darfur's rebel movements.

The two countries appear to be "nearly at war" in the area around El Geneina, also warned Noureddine Mezni, the spokesman for the U.N. mission, known as UNAMID. "There is a very strong tension on the ground," Mezni said, calling on them to "resume their cooperation, which is crucial for Darfur's peace process."

Sudan and Chad regularly trade accusations of backing each other's rebel forces, which operate on both sides of the border. Chad's President Idriss Deby warned on Saturday his army was ready to attack any Chadian rebel position, including in their rear-bases in Darfur.

Meanwhile, Darfur rebels claimed Monday they had chased the Sudanese army from another village near El Geneina, downing a government aircraft.

The Justice and Equality Movement, a leading Darfur rebel group, said its forces occupied the Darfur village of Tanjeki on Sunday, the latest of a string of positions from which it says it routed the Sudanese army.

In Khartoum, the office of the military spokesman dismissed the claim as "baseless," stating no government plane had been hit either.

More than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003, when ethnic African rebels took arms against the Arab-dominated central government. Khartoum regularly denies it conducts air raids, which are in breach of several U.N. resolutions banning military flights over a region where 2.5 million people, largely ethnic African villagers, have been chased to refugee camps by the fighting.

An official with the U.N. mission to Darfur confirmed rebels had entered Tanjeki, but said it was a one-time attack rather than an occupation of the town. "This is desert fighting, it's hard to say who stays where," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of being singled out by Sudanese authorities.

The official confirmed several villages near the main town of El Geneina have been attacked and that there are fears of a larger rebel assault that could endanger the thousands of refugees who live in camps around the town.

U.N. reports have confirmed several rebel attacks over the past weeks around El Geneina, as well as Chadian air raids.

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Associated Press Writer Mohamed Osman contributed to this report.