Enemy at the Gates - Darfur Rebels attack Khartoum

Sudanese rebels 'reach Khartoum' (BBC)

Sudanese troops have clashed with rebels from Darfur outside the capital, Khartoum, reports say, prompting an overnight curfew in the city.

Residents in Omdurman - just across the river Nile from Khartoum - said they heard heavy gunfire.

On Friday, Sudan's army said it was preparing for a possible attack on the capital after detecting a heavily-armed column of rebels advancing from Darfur.

Correspondents say this is the closest the rebels have ever been to Khartoum.

A curfew has been imposed from 1700 local time (1400 GMT) until 0600 on Sunday, security officials said.

Army vehicles and an attack helicopter were seen rushing towards the area of the fighting.

It was not clear if there were any casualties.

The rebels, from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have been involved in raids on government forces in the area before.

The JEM is one of several rebel groups fighting the government in the western Darfur region since 2003 over alleged discrimination by the authorities in favour of Arabs.

The way the Sudanese government has been systematically wiping out villages in the Darfur region I am surprised that there is enough of them left to march on any area in Sudan much less to even be detected as being heavily armed.

Americans are really becoming aware of what is happening in Sudan. That's good because Osama bin Laden wants the Janjaweed as a fighting force in the GLOBAL Jihad. Also, we should know that people have been fighting this Sudan government which took power by force in 1989. In stead of just saying "Save Darfur," America should be helping the freedom fighters to unite, overthrow the gangsters who are not a real government (the only guns they have ever used has been to kill the Sudanese people, definitely not defend the country), and help them establish a real government. If we can support opposition that does not exist in Iraq in a unwinnable war, then it would have made sense to help the opposition in Sudan in a war that they will ultimately win! Thanks for reading this.