South Kordofan’s Delling ‘calm again’ after RSF-rebel clashes

Delling in northern South Kordofan witnessed a cautious calm yesterday following a new attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the town on Saturday, which was repelled by fighters of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North led by Abdelaziz El Hilu (SPLM-N El Hilu). The about 15,000 people who fled an RSF attack on Habila ten days ago are living in critical humanitarian conditions in Delling and the countryside.

“The town of Delling and surroundings have become calm again after SPLM-N soldiers returned to their posts in the northern, eastern and southern neighbourhoods,” multiple sources in Delling told Radio Dabanga yesterday.  

One of them reported that “the rebel fighters are stationed in advanced positions at the army garrison of Delling, under a separate command from the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)”.

He denied the presence of “any understandings or contacts” between the leadership of the SPLM-N and the SAF in the town. “The rebel combatants were deployed following the apparent failure of the army in Delling to protect civilians.”

Last week, the area of El Tukma, seven kilometres east of Delling, on the border with Habila locality, witnessed renewed clashes between the RSF and the SPLM-N El Hilu.

RSF paramilitaries intercepted a lorry in the neighbourhood and killed four passengers after which SPLM-N combatants intervened. The confrontation led to an attack by the RSF on El Tukma village and the displacement of its residents to Karkaraya. The authorities transferred a number of them to Delling.

Habila displaced

The RSF invaded Habila town on December 31. After some resistance from army forces, they occupied the main market and government buildings in the town, Sudan War Monitor reported last week.

A source told Radio Dabanga on January 3 that SPLM-N El Hilu forces were able to take control of most parts of Habila town. The communications network was cut off for three days following the invasion. 

More than 15,000 people fled and sought refuge in the countryside, in areas controlled by the SPLM-N El Hilu. Some went as far as Kauda, the main stronghold of the rebel movement.

About 5,000 of them fled to the west and arrived in Delling. “Most of them are women, children, and elderly. They are living in critical humanitarian conditions as they need food and shelter, particularly as the temperatures are low at night these days,” the source reported yesterday.

He appealed to humanitarian organisations to intervene urgently. “So far, the only help the displaced receive is provided by volunteers in in the town.”

SPLM-N/army/RSF clashes

About two months after war broke out between the SAF and the paramilitary RSF, in mid April last year, the SPLM-N El Hilu began to attack army bases in South Kordofan and the southern part of the Blue Nile region. Fighting between the army and the rebel movement continued the following months.

In end June, fighting erupted between the SAF and the RSF over key areas in the northeastern parts of South Kordofan.

After a months of sporadic battles in the area, RSF paramilitaries and SPLM-N troops in December clashed in El Tukma after an RSF unit attacked the village. The militia denied direct involvement and reported tribal clashes.

“The RSF’s quick denial signalled the RSF political leadership’s eagerness to maintain neutral relations with SPLM-N so as not to open a new front in the war,” Sudan War Monitor commented.