Advance on Abu Karshola repulsed – 411 Sudan soldiers dead: rebels

The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) claims to have repelled an attack on Monday by government forces, who were attempting to recapture the city of Abu Karshola in South Kordofan. Rebels say 411 government troops were killed.Speaking to Radio Dabanga from the field, SRF military spokesman Colonel Al Gadi Rumboy says that government forces under command of General Salam Fadel Al Mula attempted to recapture the city which has been under rebel control for some weeks.“In the ensuing battle, the SRF engaged three units of government troops, killing 411 soldiers,” Col Rumboy says. “The survivors of the government formation were forced to flee to the nearby cities of El Rahad, Umm Rawaba”, in North Kordofan.Col Rumboy says that the government force was composed of an infantry division, of which the First Brigade was led by Brigadier Bahr Ahmed Bahar and the Second Brigade, by General Adel El Kettani.According to Col Rumboy, SRF forces destroyed 37 military vehicles. They also captured a tracked armoured vehicle and five large trucks, as well as 26 Land Cruisers loaded with weapons, ammunition, machine guns and other equipment.The rebels also claim to have taken 44 prisoners including Colonel Abdullah Ahmed Fadul of the 18th Infantry Battalion of Company 18 of Kosti; 38th section, military serial number 8316; lives in Block 1, Asawra neighbourhood of Omdurman.Lieutenant Mohammed Abdul Hameed Mohamed Ahmed of Brigade 151, 803 artillery battalion, military serial number 21176. He lives in Khartoum in Al Lamap Bahar Abiya.A soldier from Battalion 44: (less than 14 years old) Abu Talib Al Tijani Abdel Rahman Al Bashir from Heillet Ajemohiya neighbourhood, Karere, Omdurman. Col Rumboy highlighted that one of the prisoners, a conscript, is only 14 years old. He denounced Khartoum for recruiting child soldiers, which he termed “a crime against humanity”.Radio Dabanga was unable to independently verify these reports.The SRF rebel coalition forces staged a surprise attack on Umm Rawaba almost three weeks ago. The town, east of the state capital El Obeid, is on the route to Rabak, the capital of White Nile State.Fighting in the region continues, with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and rebels making contradictory claims over who is winning the battles.File photo by Albert González Farran/UNAMIDRelated: Sudan rebels ‘destroy’ convoy in Kordofan – threats from Khartoum (13 May 2013)