KHARTOUM - The Sudanese army on Monday said rebels in the Darfur region have taken control of a border area and raised a flag of the revolutionary front, an alliance bringing together four armed movements, official SUNA news agency reported.

"Some rebel forces, belonging to the Darfur movements, grouped in Al-Riqaibat area, some 10 km north of Samaha area in Bahral- Arab in East Darfur state, and established a camp," the agency quoted Al-Sawarmy Khalid Saad, a Sudanese army spokesman, as saying.

"The rebels hoisted a flag of the so-called revolutionary front and established a fee-collecting point which is a clear aggression against the citizens and an attempt to legalize the looting of their money," he added.

Saad further reiterated that the Sudanese army would not tolerate this flagrant aggression and that the army would decisively deal with this situation.

Samaha area in East Darfur State, on the Sudan-South Sudan border, is one of the five disputed areas between the two countries.

The revolutionary front is an alliance bringing together three Darfur rebel groups, including the Justice and Equality Movement ( JEM), the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)/ Minni Minnawi and the SLA/ Abdul-Wahid Nur faction, as well as the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector.

Violence escalated in the Darfur region during the past two months. The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur has expressed concerns over the mounting violence in the region and urged the conflicting parties to avoid whatever might threaten the fragile peace in the restive region.