Sudan: Worsening situation in South Kordofan as rebels claim they have attacked Dilling
March 5, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – The security and humanitarian situation in Sudan’s war battered state of South Kordofan has worsened, sources say, as rebel fighters claim they attacked a major town on Monday.
Reliable sources told Sudan Tribune on Monday that the state was undergoing an increasingly complex situation in terms of security and humanitarian conditions.
According to them, sounds of gunfire and shelling could be heard even in the vicinity of the state’s capital Kadugli which is under the control of the Sudanese army (SAF).
Sudan has barred international aid groups from operating in South Kordofan and Blue Nile despite mounting international concern over possible famine in rebel controlled areas. Khartoum said this month that a survey conducted in South Kordofan had concluded that the humanitarian situation was ‘normal’.
Meanwhile, the SPLM-N’s official spokesman Arnu Loddi said in an e-mailed statement to Sudan Tribune on Monday that their forces launched an attack inside Al-Dilling town, north of Kadugli and 130 km south of Al-Obayid, the capital of neighbouring North Kordofan.
Loddi said that their assault had destroyed an army camp near the Dilling University and inflicted heavy losses of life and equipment for the SAF forces.
According to Loddi, their forces killed 15 SAF soldiers and seized a large amount of arms, while they only suffered one death and six injured.
Military claims in South Kordofan are difficult to verify independently as media presence in the area is restricted.
In a related context, the governor of South Kordofan Ahmad Haroun dissolved his cabinet and announced that a new one will be made public in the coming hours, as reported by Sudan’s official news agency SUNA on Monday.
Haroun pointed out that the new cabinet would include representatives of 11 political parties.
South Kordofan’s conflict erupted after Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes allegedly committed in the western region of Darfur, was announced to be the winner of the state’s gubernatorial elections against his former deputy and SPLM-N leader in the state Abdel Aziz al-Hilu.
Sudan’s President Omer Al-Bashir vowed this week to end the rebellion in South Kordofan and overrun the SPLM-N stronghold in Kauda town.
According to the United Nations more than 417,000 people have been displaced since the conflict in South Kordofan erupted.
(ST)