Sudan's government launches new offensive against rebels in Darfur

By Henry Meyer
ASSOCIATED PRESS

CAIRO, Egypt – The Sudanese government has launched a major offensive against rebels in war-torn Darfur, human rights activists and African Union officials said Friday.
The fighting, which Human Rights Watch said has involved government aircraft bombing villages, began as a senior U.S. envoy was in Khartoum to press the government to accept the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in the western region.

Sudan on Thursday rejected as “illegal” a U.N. Security Council resolution paving the way for the replacement of 7,000 ill-equipped African Union peacekeepers in Darfur with more than 20,000 U.N. troops and police. Read more >>>