Reuters reports that Khartoum is stepping up its military presence in Kordofan amid concerns that the JEM rebels are preparing an attack, which the JEM denies:

Sudan’s army has stepped up security in Khartoum, saying it has intelligence that a heavily armed convoy of Darfur rebels has advanced to the neighboring Kordofan province and is planning an attack.

But the rebel Justice and Equality Movement denied any move on Sudan’s capital and accused the government of trying to distract attention from recent bombing raids on Darfur that have brought international condemnation.

Heavy security operations began late on Thursday in Khartoum. Bridges were closed and checkpoints set up in the streets, forcing many people to stay at home.

“There were some forces from the Justice and Equality Movement who crossed from Chad through Darfur to Kordofan where they were aiming to cause destruction in Khartoum,” an army spokesman said. “The army is on a heightened state of alert.”

Meanwhile, AFP reports that Janjaweed militias continue to force people out of their villages in Chad while there are other reports that the International Criminal Court has not ruled out charging those behind the violence in Darfur with genocide.

In the DRC, the UN reports that militias continue to recruit and use child soldiers while the ENOUGH Project issued a report saying that the time for peace talks with Joseph Kony and the LRA are over and that states in the region must begin to treat Kony as a regional threat.