The Sudanese armed forces vowed on Monday to "crush" a coalition of rebel groups in Darfur for killing an officer whose helicopter had landed in north Darfur after a technical failure.

"The armed forces, while condemning this brutal and treacherous act, vow that they will strike back twice as hard ... and will crush those rebels," the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) quoted an armed forces statement as saying.

The statement blamed the incident on the National Redemption Front, an alliance of several rebel groups. The rebels said on Sunday they had shot down a government helicopter that attacked their position while they were preparing for unity talks.
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