Rebels attacked and seized town of Tawilla in North Dafur yesterday

A boy sleeps in the shade of a grass shelter at Zam Zam camp near El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, November 22, 2004.

Rebels attacked and seized the town of Tawilla in North Darfur state yesterday, and officials said fighting was continuing as police and army struggled to regain control over the town, where about 30,000 refugees are encamped.

Sudan said today clashes with rebels in Darfur had killed more than 30 policemen, and denied accusations from aid workers that government planes had bombed a town captured by the rebels.

Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail denied the town had been bombed. "There are clear instructions to the army that they should not use any bombing. There is no bombing," he told reporters in Khartoum. But he added helicopter gunships may have been used.

Photo by Reilly/Reuters