KHARTOUM: Sudan on Sunday cut diplomatic ties with Chad, accusing its neighbor of supporting a first ever Darfur rebel attack on Khartoum where a curfew was extended indefinitely to capture remaining rebels.
The government said it had repulsed the assault by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), allegedly backed by Ndjamena, which saw the insurgents reach Khartoum s outskirts with the declared intent of toppling the regime.
Sudan has cut diplomatic relations with Chad because of its support for the attack on Saturday on the capital s twin city of Omdurman across the river Nile, public radio said.
The army spokesman s office said a curfew had been indefinitely extended to facilitate the capture of those fleeing. The Egyptian news agency MENA said Khartoum s international airport was closed for security reasons.
Khartoum and Ndjamena accuse each other of backing rebels seeking to topple their respective regimes, and Sudan was quick to blame Chad for Saturday s violence.
The attempt by (Chadian) President Idriss Deby to destabilize Sudan has failed, senior ruling party member Kamal Obeid said.
Foreign ministry official Ali Yousif said that we have evidence there was communication between (the rebels and) the government of Chad and the embassy of Chad in Khartoum. In view of this we decided to cut diplomatic relations.
He said Chad s ambassador was not in Khartoum but that five or six other Chadian officials were probably preparing to leave, and promised to allow the diplomats safe passage.
An Omdurman resident told AFP he could see smashed cars in the streets and plumes of smoke rising after a night of fighting but that electricity and water had come back online.
We had a terrible night because of the military camp here, said the father of one young girl, referring to a nearby base and asking not to be named.
Up until six o clock (0300 GMT) this morning there was very heavy bombardment. I can see smoke out of the window and smashed cars from the roof of the building. There is a lot of heavy smoke inside the military camp.
He said that military and police vehicles were patrolling the streets, with ambulance sirens wailing.
Rebels and those who were supporting them are fleeing so the security forces are following them, and when the operation is over the curfew will be lifted, Yousif said.
He added that he had no information on casualties but no foreigner was injured or killed.
Yousif said the fighting had taken place only in Omdurman, despite JEM claims to have entered Khartoum, and that it ended on Saturday night.
A US diplomat told AFP that the embassy had cancelled an emergency meeting because movements are restricted.
We re just being told to stay in and keep a low profile, the diplomat said, asking not to be named.
In February, rebels allegedly backed by Khartoum advanced as far as the gates of the presidential palace in Ndjamena before being repulsed.
The Islamist JEM has carried out a number of high-profile attacks on Sudanese targets, including raids on Chinese-run oil fields because of what it says is Beijing s refusal to rein in Khartoum s alleged human rights abuses.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Beshir returned overnight to Khartoum from pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and received a briefing on the sabotage attempt, the official SUNA news agency reported.
The rebels are now either dead or prisoners of war, army spokesman Brigadier General Osman Al-Aghbash told public radio.
State television showed images of what it said were captured rebels cowering in the back of an armoured personnel carrier, along with footage of captured rebel all-terrain vehicles, field artillery and shells.
JEM said on Saturday that its fighters had taken control of Wadi Saidna air force base about 16 km north of Khartoum and were headed into the capital.
The White House said it was very concerned about the violence and urged both the Darfur rebels and government forces to cease hostilities.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed grave concern at the outbreak of fighting and strongly condemned the use of armed force and military means by JEM. He called for an immediate cessation of fighting. The extent of casualties was not immediately known, although state television showed at least one body lying in the street.
