Two battalions were defeated with twenty-nine soldiers and thirty-two vehicles being captured according to the rebels. However, the Sudanese army has denied the heavy losses. But, the army has confirmed a clash outside of el-Geneina.
As a result of fighting between the pro-government forces and the rebels, over two-hundred thousand people have died. While international efforts to mediate has been done numerous times, they have all failed. About twenty-six thousand UN peacekeepers will possibly be deployed to the region next year in 2008.
A lieutenant-colonel and three other officers were captured according to Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr, who is a commander with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). But that has been unconfirmed.
He added that JEM also attacked the Defra oil field for a second time and shutting down its pumping station. That too, has been unconfirmed.
A report by the rebels said that they took over an oil field run by the Chinese. While the Chinese embassy confirmed the fighting, they denied the claim of the takeover.
Within the next few weeks, the first wave of the UN-AU hybrid force will take over the peacekeeping work in Darfur.
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