[Al Arabiya Latest] Fifteen gunmen accused of involvement in the assassination of an MP in the western Sudanese region of Darfur were killed in clashes with security forces on Saturday, a local police chief told AFP.Police and armed forces jointly pursued the unidentified armed men "who killed MP Hassan Tageddine Hassan al-Helw on Thursday" and caught up with them south of Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, said Fath al-Rahman Osman.
Fifteen of the gunmen were killed in the ensuing clashes, he said, without reporting any arrests or casualties among the security forces. A number of the gunmen had escaped.
Helw, an MP from Sudan's ruling National Congress Party, and two others travelling with him were killed when their car was attacked by unidentified gunmen in Nyala.
The police recovered the car of the slain MP, which was in the hands of the armed men, Osman said.
The U.N. estimates that up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease in Darfur, a figure disputed by the government, which says only 10,000 people have been killed.
| That sounds like the kind of dispute over numbers that we saw in Afghanistan. I find it hard to believe anything from the UN, but the Sudanese government is not exactly known for its veracity... or generosity of spirit. |