Al Fashir, What Really Happened:

> Al Fashir, What Really Happened:
>
> During the time of war, every party tends to lie in order to boost its
> morale, and to wage psychological warfare against its rival. But you
> could be caught read-handed lying, not merely by simple logic, but also
> by un-refutable evidences of your shear lies. The recent events in Al
> Fashir of April 25th, is one example in which NIF regime used lies and
> mis-information about what had happened there, and what's really
> happening in other places in Darfur. Today in Darfur, with the
> exponential rise in the cases of ethnic violence, burning of villages,
> killing of innocent people, increase in the cases of capital
> punishments, mass displacement, increase of military presence in the
> whole region (6 military airplanes in Al Fashir alone), besides the
> mass mobilization of armed personnel and equipment, all this raise more
> legitimate questions about the government policies towards the region. If
> this war is waged against foreign invaders, why the government is
> silent from exposing that to the public, and states clearly that Darfur
> is being invaded or at the brink of invasion. The government depiction
> of its current opponents whom it fights as bunch of outlaws, armed
> robbers, or banditry is counter productive. This was the same
> nomenclature used by the NIF against the SPLM/A which it now
> negotiates, and branding its leader as "real unionist". Any sane
> person, whether inside Darfur, or outside, knows the difference between
> banditry targeting innocent people, and "banditry" targeting solely,
> the military. If the huge military presence in the region is to calm
> ethic tension, which it instigates, the volume of the current
> destruction of innocent lives and loss of meager material wealth,
> during this period alone, is unprecedented, which questions the primary
> role of the armed forces in the region.
>
> Below is brief summary of what had happened in Al Fashir on Friday
> April 25th, 2003, by the "Opposition Forces" as were labeled by Al
> Fashir residents, against the government military installations in the
> city:
>
> - Following early morning prayers, sporadic and heavy explosions were
> heard from the western parts of the town, where the airport, the
> artillery regiment are located, and from the military barracks adjacent
> to the city's main electric and water plants.
>
> - Shelling and sound of explosions were loudly heard all over the city,
> and rounds of shells were sporadically fired/reached all the adjacent
> residential areas west of the city.
>
> - The state of bombing continued all morning until 1PM
>
> The result of the shelling is the following:
>
> - Destruction of 3 helicopters and 2 antinovs
>
> - Destruction of the artillery regiment, adjacent to the airport
>
> - Killing of over 77 soldiers, mostly were ambushed in their barracks,
> and at least 7 civilians died on cross fire; more people were wounded,
> some seriously.
>
> - Fighting moved to the main head quarter of the army, but "Opposition
> Forces" could not over run it, where more killing took place.
>
> - "Opposition Forces" came in around 17 cars, two were disabled; but
> they took with them at least 3 cars, two were governmental, in addition
> to undisclosed number of looted arms.
>
> - 5 bodies of "Opposition Forces" fighters were left on-site (some
> headless) without burial on different places, for the whole day of Friday.
>
> - All dead soldiers and civilians (not the opposition) were buried in
> one communal grave north of the city, without any presence from the
> government or the army.
>
> - During a public talk called to by the Governor, a rumor spread that
> some people in the crowd are having weapons, and immediately people
> were dispersed in complete panic.
>
> - Only now it's revealed that the opposition forces had kidnapped the
> top air force Officer stationed in Al Fashir, refuting all lies about
> his whereabouts after being interviewed by Aljazeera TV.
>
> - The government is now accusing SPLM, Israel, and Eritrea as the
> source behind the latest events in Al Fashir
>
> - More military personnel and armaments are on the way to the region.
>
>
> Ali Dinar
>
>
> ** More to come, but in Arabic.....