Satellite photos indicate bomb craters in Sudan’s Abu Zabad

A satellite imagery report of North Kordofan shows a large-scale build-up of the Sudanese Army Forces (SAF) along the border with South Kordofan. ‘Clashes between the SAF and rebels in Abu Zabad as seen on November 17 might be repeated,’ the report says.The satellite imagery comes from the Satellite Sentinel Project, which issued a human security warning in October 2013 based on increased activity at Sudanese military installations. Their new report documents the clashes in Abu Zabad on 17 November and shows four craters caused by SAF aerial bombardments, two burning buildings, and several vehicles on fire.The satellites have also caught SAF forces massing and deploying at the garrisons at El Obeid, Dilling and surrounding environs. That ‘signals a major offensive against the rebels’, the report concludes.Abu Zabad’s proximity to a major east-west railway line makes it a strategic juncture for supply lines of the SAF, the Satellite Sentinel Project says. The types of clashes seen in Abu Zabad might be repeated. Civilians in Abu Zabad remain at risk due to the town’s strategic importance.’Rebels destroy SAF forces in Abu Zabad Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) announced the demolition of a joint Sudanese army and militia battalion in the area between Abu Zabad and El Shifir in North Kordofan on Thursday.According to the spokesman for SPLM-N, joint rebel forces destroyed a battalion of the Sudanese army and captured a number of military vehicles and tanks. The number of casualties among government forces are being counted.See below photos extracted from The Satellite Sentinel Project report of November 22File photoRelated: Sudan’s rebels, army clash in Abu Zabad, North Kordofan (17 November 2013)