Darfur rebels and Sudan army clash at Chad border

KHARTOUM - Sudanese rebels opposed to a recent peace deal in Darfur clashed with government troops near Sudan's border with Chad, officials on both sides said on Sunday, and rebels said they had captured a Sudanese officer.

The violence sent scores of injured fighters from both sides streaming across the border for treatment, and 77 combatants were at a civilian hospital in Chad on Sunday morning, a humanitarian source in Chad's eastern city of Abeche said.

Both sides blamed each other for initiating hostilities on Saturday in Sudan's war-ravaged west, and rebels reported heavy fighting. There were no confirmed reports on the overall number of casualties.

Roughly 200,000 people have been killed in Darfur since the conflict flared in 2003 and more than 2.5 million have been displaced by fighting between Darfur rebel groups, government forces and militias.

- REUTERS