SPLM-N shells South Kordofan town on election day
April 13, 2015 (DILING) – The rebel Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) launched a rocket attack on Dilling town in South Kordofan state in conjunction with the start of voting in the general elections.
Eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune that Dilling’s southern neighbourhoods of Al-Rahmaniya and Al-Toumat were shelled by Katyusha rockets on Monday morning.
Dilling commissioner, Adam Al-Khalil, said the polling centers opened on Monday morning in the presence of political parties and candidates representatives, saying that rebels fired five Katyusha rockets to undermine security.
He added that two baby girls from Al-Toumat neighbourhood sustained minor injuries from the rockets which fell away from the polling stations.
Sudanese defence minister Abdel-Rahim Hussein told the official news agency SUNA that the security situation is generally stable in the whole country. he further said that there is no problem in Darfur and the other conflict areas.
The SPLM-N spokesperson was not reachable for comment.
Khalil told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) that turnout increased significantly after the shelling, pointing that residents are carrying out their normal activities in spite of the rebels’ shelling.
He also said the commercial markets and shops continued its business as usual, noting that the committee responsible for securing elections is convening around -the- clock and continues to receive reports from all polling stations outside Dilling except for the Al-Tukma station which lies 6 kilometres east of the town.
ACTIVISTS DETAINED
Meanwhile, several journalists in Khartoum said their newspapers received orders from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) preventing them from publishing reports mentioning the low turnout at the elections.
Sudan Tribune recalls that NISS has detained several activists in Khartoum, Al-Souki, Port Sudan, Al-Duwaim ahead of the start of voting.
The family of the late communist leader Farouk Kadouda, in a statement on Monday, expressed deep concern over the fate of his daughter, Sandra who was detained on Sunday while she was on her way to the headquarters of the National Umma Party (NUP) where opposition forces held a sit-in to boycott elections.
They held NISS responsible for her safety, saying she suffers from low blood sugar (Hypoglycaemia) which causes fainting.
The statement demanded Sandra’s swift release or disclosure of her whereabouts and the reasons behind her detention, saying the family took legal action by filing charges of kidnapping.
They called upon local and international civil society organisations to exercise pressure to secure her immediate release, saying she a mother of two kids who are in dire need of her.
Also, the leading figure at the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party (ASBP), Mohamed Diya al-Din, posted in his Facebook page that NISS agents were blockading his house in Khartoum.
According to activists’ sources, NISS detained Salwa Adam Bunia, Naji Abdel-Jalil, Youssef Kafi and Musa JoJo from the SPLM-N in Khartoum, Adlan Jamal al-Din, Shomo Hamid Zakaria and Taha al-Fatih from the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) in Al-Souki, Mohamed Youssef, Ali Omer Al-Faki and Ahmed Al-Tayeb from the SCoP in Al-Duwaim.
Also NISS arrested several students including Hosam Mohamed Adam from the SPLM-N in Port Sudan, Ibrahim Ahmed Guma’a from Alnilin University, Musa Mohamed Osman and Haroun Kanjoom from Omdurman Islamic University.
All opposition forces boycott the election and call to postpone it and to hold an inclusive process to discuss issues related to peace and constitutional reforms.
Since last February, they launched a political campaign “Leave” calling on the Sudanese to boycott the general elections and deprive the regime of legitimacy.
(ST)