Sudanese rebels shoot-down UAV in South Kordofan

Forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan’s Nuba Mountains shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Thursday. “Our troops hit a UAV from above the area of Abri, Habila locality in South Kordofan on Thursday afternoon,” Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, the official spokesman for the SPLM-N, stated in a press release the same day. “The aircraft fell, and attempted to take off again. Our forces, however, managed to capture the spying device. The UAV was used to map all civilians’ positions and institutions, markets, and water sources, to be bombarded later by Antonov fighter jets, in order to kill and displace unarmed civilians.”’Dry season’ campaignMid April, Sudan’s Defence Minister, Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, announced the launch of a “dry season” campaign in the Nuba Mountains. He stated that the war in Darfur had subsided, and that more troops could be moved to South Kordofan. In November and December last year, President Omar Al Bashir and Sudanese officials had announced a “decisive campaign”, during the “dry season in the months to come”, aimed at “the final elimination of all armed movements in Sudan”. File photo Related:Sudan rebels besiege garrison in South Kordofan as Air Force bombs populated areas (1 May 2014) New displacement in Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile (1 May 2014) Atrocities against Kordofan civilians as Sudanese army strikes in force (17 April 2014)Sudanese army prepares for major offensive in Nuba Mountains (17 April 2014)  ‘More troops to South Kordofan’: Sudan security (13 April 2014)‘Major military campaign to end rebellion in Darfur’: Al Bashir (26 December 2013) Sudan training young Darfuris to fight in South Kordofan: recruit (9 December 2013)