Rebel chief says forces take town in Sudan's Darfur

Khartoum (AFP) - Worsening violence in the Darfur region of western Sudan spread to another town on Thursday, where a rebel commander said his forces were in control.

"This evening our troops captured Mellit town," Minni Minnawi, who heads a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, told AFP.

Mellit is more than 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur where insecurity has worsened this month.

Sudan's army spokesman could not immediately be reached but a witness, who asked not to be named, reported "shooting and explosions" in Mellit.

Minnawi said his forces also still held another area, about 300 kilometres from Mellit in the state's southeast corner, which they attacked several days ago.

That was one of three major outbreaks of unrest in North and South Darfur since late February, displacing about 115,000 people, according to the United Nations.

Despite their latest offensive, rebel-government clashes are no longer the main source of violence in Darfur, 11 years after Minnawi and other insurgents began an uprising against Khartoum.

Over the past two years, Sudan's deteriorating economy has led to worsening crime and intercommunal clashes, a February report by United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said.

It added that some cash-poor paramilitaries have joined the tribal fighting over gold and other resources.

Analysts say the government can no longer control its former Arab tribal allies, whom it armed against the insurgents.