LIBREVILLE - Forces supporting the Khartoum government have violated a ceasefire deal in Sudan's western Darfur region for the second day running, killing nine civilians, a Sudanese rebel group charged on Friday.
"The Janjawid (pro-government Arab militiamen) and government forces have again violated the ceasefire," said a spokesman for the Justice and Equality Movement (MJE), colonel Abdallah Abdel Karim.
Karim said the Janjawid had attacked the town of Doung-Diresa in South Darfur, killing nine people and wounding 13, all of them civilians.
He added that the militiamen had stolen livestock - 300 cows and 600 sheep and goats - from the town located 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Nyala, the regional capital.
The MJE on Thursday accused Janjawid militiamen and army troops of violating the April 11 ceasefire in an attack that left 32 civilians dead, although that report has yet to be independently confirmed.
Several official sources in the Chadian capital Ndjamena said on Thursday they were unaware of the alleged raids.
The MJE was taking steps to inform the Chadian mediation in Ndjamena of the latest violation, Karim said.
The Chadian mediation was unavailable for comment on Friday.
According to Karim, however, the Chadian government has said it would urge Khartoum to bring an end to provocations until the next round of mediation talks, set for next Tuesday in the Chadian capital.
The upcoming talks are due to address discuss political issues and seek a definitive settlement to the conflict.
In a surprise truce agreed last week under Chadian mediation, the government and rebels from the MJE and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) pledged to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid to Darfur, free prisoners of war and disarm Arab militias blamed for most of the violence there.
The ceasefire, which began on Sunday and is renewable every 45 days, is the third since the conflict broke out 14 months ago. The first two were short-lived.
The conflict, which the United Nations says is currently the world's worst humanitarian and human rights catastrophe, has claimed more than 10,000 lives and displaced some 670,000 people within Sudan, while another 100,000 have fled to eastern Chad.
British inquiry into Iraq war opens in London