Rebels, Sudanese army shell South Kordofan capital

Shops closed their doors and people hid in their homes or fled towards the mountains, when Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) troops shelled Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan, on Saturday morning. Sources in Kadugli told Radio Dabanga that of seven Katyusha rockets fired by the rebels, two landed on the Khartoum-El Obeid bus station at the Kadugli market. Another hit the house of Saad Hassan near the market, while the other missiles fell in the neighbourhoods of Alban Jadeed, El Melkiya, Marta and Kelba. The authorities of South Kordofan state confirmed the attack. The Deputy Governor of the state, Kamal Balla, described the shelling as a “desperate attempt” after successive rebel defeats. He noted that three people were injured.   The spokesperson for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), El Sawarmi Khaled Saad, reported that the rebels fired five rockets at Kadugli. SAF forces responded by “firing Katyusha rockets”. The sources in Kadugli described Saturday’s shelling as the heaviest of its kind witnessed in the city since the outbreak of the war two years ago.   File photo: SAF commandos in South Kordofan