Sudan's armed forces on Thursday retook the Darfur town of Kornoy, near the border with Chad, which had fallen into rebel hands of rebels last week, an army spokesman said.
Troops "have complete control" of the Kornoy area, which liesabout 50 kilometres (31 miles) from the border in northwest Darfur, Othman al-Aghbash told the Sudanese Media Centre, which is close to the intelligence services.
The rebel Justice and Equality Movement "has completely evacuated" the area and retreated towards the Chadian border, Aghbash said.
JEM, the most militarised of the Darfur rebel groups, seized Kornoy on May 17 and launched an attack a week later against neigbouring Umm Baru, around 50 kilometres (31 miles) east.
The rebels failed to take control of Umm Baru, peacekeepers said on Monday, despite reporting the contrary a day earlier.
Fighting between JEM and the Sudanese army has left more than 60 dead, including 20 soldiers, Sudanese authorities said.
The unrest comes as a new round of talks is set to start in the Qatari capital Doha between rebels and the Sudanese government to discuss a prisoner exchange and an eventual peace conference on Darfur.
The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died in Darfur from the combined effects of war, famine and disease and about 2.7 million fled their homes. Sudan puts the death toll at 10,000.
earlier related report
Russian navy hands Somali 'pirates' to Iran, Pakistan: report
Russian naval bosses said Thursday that pirates among 29 it captured on a so-called mother ship off Somalia have been handed over to Iranian and Pakistani investigators, news agencies reported.
"At the start of May, after having conducted preliminary enquiries aboard the Admiral Panteleev (destroyer)… one group of pirates held were delivered to Iranian authorities and another to Pakistan," a representative of Russian naval high command was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti.
Russian sailors had seized seven Kalachnikov machine-guns, handguns of different calibres, satellite navigation devices and a large number of empty shells at the time of the operation, said Russia's defence ministry.
Trials relating to a spiralling upsurge in pirate attacks in the region over the last year are largely being hosted by Kenya, following agreements with the European Union, the United States and Britain.
Dozens of Somalis arrested on the high seas by French naval forces are currently awaiting trial for piracy in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa.
A Somali teenager captured by US forces in a high-seas drama is to stand trial in New York.
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