Fighting erupts in Kadugli, citizens prepare to leave

The city of Kadugli witnessed separate conflicts yesterday between the forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the government’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). And conflicts within the SAF after a rebel from within SAF disobeyed orders. The citizens of Kadugli live in a state of fear with the dense firing and the office manager of the SPLM in the state, Gamar Elanbiya Kadia, stated that heavy weapons were used in the fighting. He went on to say that he could not give the exact number of the victims of the violent battles. Eyewitnesses said that the battles did not go beyond the military areas of the city but the residents of the areas, especially those near military areas, have started preparing to leave the city. The office manager of Abdul Aziz Elhilu (SPLA) revealed that the government of South Kurdofan had arrived with the minister of defense and went into an emergency meeting with the secretary-general of the SPLM of the north, Yassir Arman, along with other leaders of the SPLM like General Khamis Jallab and Abdulla Tia to reach an agreement to calm the situation. The statement of the spokesperson of the SAF said that a battalion of the SPLA attacked the Sudan Armed Forces  in the area of Um Durwain and killed one person and wounded seven others and forced the army unity to withdraw. The statement also said that the army retains its right to respond.