Army denies JEM claims of N. Kordofan occupation

The spokesman of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) denied the claims made by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in which it assured to have captured and occupied certain areas in North Kordofan, Radio Dabanga has learned on Friday, 4 January. Colonel Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, the army’s spokesman, asserted SAF is in control of all access ways to the state and that JEM does not represent any security threat in North Kordofan.He described the battles with the rebels as “limited” and assured that the situation is “under control”. Sa’ad said that members of the JEM were wandering around the state’s borders to obtain fuel and added they abducted 10 students from the region. “Liar” However, Fadil Mohamed Rahouma, JEM’s deputy chief commander, denied Sa’ad’s claims and called him a “liar” when speaking to Radio Dabanga. Rahouma emphasized that the rebel movement did not target or abduct citizens and stressed that JEM is still in control of certain areas of North Kordofan, where the group reportedly entered last Wednesday. Lastly, the deputy chief commander suggested that the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) forces would have achieved other “earth-shaking goals in North Kordofan, down to the Nile and Khartoum to overthrow the regime”, promising the year of 2013 would be “a decisive one”.Radio Dabanga file photoRelated: SRF claims control areas in Kordofan (3 January 2013)