Sudanese army claims sweeping victories in South Kordofan
April 21, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has announced liberation of 5 areas in South Kordofan state within the framework of the second phase of the Decisive Summer campaign to end rebellion in the state.
While, the director of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), Mohamed Atta, announced that units of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia were deployed in South Kordofan state to take part in the military operations.
SAF’s spokesperson, Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad, said at a press conference on Monday they launched sweeping attack on rebel areas and recaptured the areas of East and West Zalataya, Saraf Falata, Tendomin, and Tagilbo, noting that rebels suffered heavy losses in lives and equipments.
Saad pointed that the liberated areas are rich in gold and include large groups of traditional miners, adding that SAF opened safe corridors for the residents.
The governor of South Kordofan state, Adam Al-Faki, for his part, said that SAF liberated 7500 people from the grip of the rebellion, underscoring the government seeks to achieve peace through negotiation with the rebels.
He called upon armed bearers to turn themselves in to SAF’s position and added that the latter would continue cleansing the area from rebellion in order to return residents to their areas.
He further stressed that SAF is capable of securing villages and liberated areas.
700,000 CIVILIANS DISPLACED : REBELS
But the spokesperson of the rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N), Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, said in a press release on Monday the second phase of the government’s Decisive Summer campaign led to displacement of 70.000 people in villages of Tomi, Tengalo, Al-Mansour, Kalopa, Klaro, Tarawa, Tendomin, Tagilbo, and Zalataya in Rashad province in the Nuba Mountain.
He claimed the government’s troops looted cattle and destroyed water pumps and wells, asserting that the government army continued to bomb displaced civilians in their hideouts in the mountains using heavy artillery and aircrafts.
Lodi added that several villages in Al-Abasiya province were bombed by Sukhoi Super jet, asserting that large number of cows perished and residents were terrified.
The Sudanese government has been battling the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan state for nearly three years.
The conflict erupted in 2011 when Sudan attempted to forcibly disarm SPLM-N fighters it accuses of being backed by their brother-in-arms in the South Sudanese army.
(ST)