Rebels ‘capture South Kordofan army base in retaliation for Air Force bombing’

The spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) claims his forces have “defeated and captured” Ambir army base in Rashad locality, South Kordofan on Thursday.Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told Radio Dabanga that 24 members of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) were killed in the battle, and “several were wounded”. The SPLA-N claims to have lost two men and 13 have minor injuries.He said that the action was “In retaliation to air raids carried out by the Sudanese Air Force against civilian targets in the area on Tuesday in which three children from one family were killed and three more were wounded”. “An Air Force Antonov dropped 18 bombs on the village of Yetma and four bombs on the village of Toumou. Towards the evening, they dropped two bombs on the village of Meriyam in Lagawa locality,” he said. “In all cases, houses were destroyed or damaged, but in Meriyam, seven-year-old Awadir Badawi Savanir and the 14-year-old twins Sabra Bedawi and Hawaya Bedawi were killed, while six-year-old Omran Ahmed Adlan, 15-year-olds Habiba Mahmoor and Amina Kendaki Al Amin were injured,” Lodi said.“The base is now under our control,” Lodi said, adding that his forces captured “several trucks and Land Cruisers, as well as a number of artillery cannon”. “The SPLA-N will continue to attack the forces of the Khartoum regime wherever they are,” Lodi concluded. Radio Dabanga was unable to reach the SAF for comment.File photo Related: Sudan’s SPLA-N confirms Friday ‘shelling of military sites in Kadugli’, South Kordofan (14 June 2013)‘SAF formation routed in South Kordofan’: Sudan Rebels (11 June 2013) Rebels claim bombing Sudan’s Kadugli airport (30 April 2013)