145,000 expected to flee new fighting in South Kordofan

Sudanese humanitarian organisations expect about 145,000 displaced people to pour into large towns in South Kordofan following the continuous fighting between the Sudanese army and a rebel movement near Kadugli. The rebels declared the destruction of a large unit of government forces on Wednesday, while the army claimed that the rebels suffered heavy losses during their attacks.

The spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) issued a press statement on Thursday in which he reported the deaths of about 100 Sudanese soldiers and officers in El Geneziah area, about 18 km east of Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan These include “Col. Abdallah Ahmed Adam Ahmed, Lt. Col. Adam Ibrahim Sadiq, Maj. Hassan El Tayeb, and First Lt. Ibrahim Ismail”.

The rebels seized control of the military base, as well as three jeeps mounted with surface-to-air missiles, and 16 Land Cruisers loaded with military equipment. Arno Ngutulu Lodi added that SPLM-N forces destroyed the Sudanese base in the area of Bilinja, 8 km southwest of Kadugli, on Thursday morning. “The rebels killed 24 government forces in the battle for Bilinja, and captured vehicles carrying various weapons.”

The Sudanese army reputed that the rebels suffered heavy losses during their attacks on areas, which were recently seized by the army in South Kordofan. Spokesman Col. El Sawarmi Khaled Saad claimed this in a press statement issued by Suna News Agency. Last week, the army said that it re-captured El Geneziah, Dalouka, and Belinja areas in South Kordofan state, which borders South Sudan.

'More displacements expected'

The Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) expects the arrival of about 145,000 people from rebel-held areas in South Kordofan, mostly from Buram and Heiban localities to Kadugli and Talodi. The UN Humanitarian Office quoted the HAC in its latest weekly news bulletin, as it tracked population movements in Heiban, Um Dorein, Buram, and Dalami localities in the state. HAC stated that the ongoing fighting between the Sudanese army and the rebels “could lead to a possible massive civilian influx” from these areas held by the SPLM-N.

The Sudanese army is fighting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan since early June 2011, when armed skirmishes broke out in South Kordofan that progressively expanded into a large-scale conflict in the region. The SPLM-N has managed to maintain control of the southern part of the Nuba Mountains (south to Jaw), nearly encircling the government-controlled Kadugli.