Sudan's Darfur region is no longer in a state of war and only has one rebel group capable of mounting limited military campaigns, the head of the area's peacekeeping force said as he ended his tour of duty.
The statement was quickly dismissed by Darfur insurgents yesterday who said they were armed and preparing to launch new attacks on Sudan government troops in the near future.
The commander of the joint UN/African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force, Martin Luther Agwai, told reporters the conflict had now descended into banditry and "very low intensity" engagements that could still blight the remote western regi on for years without a peace deal.
"As of today, I would not say there is a war going on in Darfur," he said in a briefing in Khartoum late on Wednesday.
"Militarily there is not much. What you have is security issues more now. Banditry ... people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that."
The six-year Darfur conflict has pitted pro-government militias and troops against mostly non-Arab rebels, who took up arms in 2003, demanding better representation and accusing Khartoum of neglecting the development of the region.
Khartoum says 10,000 have died in Darfur, while the United Nations puts the death count at up to 300,000.
Mr Agwai became the latest senior figure to appear to play down the level of violence in Darfur, where the conflict has mobilised activists who accuse Khartoum of genocide.
Mostly Western campaigners and some diplomats were angered by comments in April by UNAMID's political leader Rodolphe Adada, who said Darfur had subsided into a "low-intensity conflict"; and by US Sudan envoy Scott Gration in June who said he had seen the "remnants of genocide" in the region, stopping short, they said, of describing a current genocide.
Mr Agwai said the fierce fighting of the early years of the conflict had subsided as rebel groups split into rival groups.
"Apart from JEM, I do not see any other group that can launch an attack on the ground," he said referring to the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel force that launched an unprecedented attack on Khartoum last year.
Mr Agwai said JEM could still fight, but did not have the manpower to hold territory. The Nigerian general added there was still a chance full blown conflict would resume.
JEM has clashed a number of times with the Sudanese army in the past months, and has said it withdrew voluntarily on two occasions to protect locals from government air attacks.