Sudan army expels South Kordofan rebels; ‘Counter-attack soon’

The spokesman for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), Colonel El Sawarmi Khalid Saad, announced that the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) liberated an area near Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, from the rebels on Friday afternoon. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) has called it a ‘tactical withdrawal’. El Sawarmi affirmed in a statement on Friday that they have seized large quantities of war equipment from the SPLA-N, including large mortars, machine guns, and considerable number of small arms and ammunition in the area of El Atmur, east of Kadugli, between Um Sirdiba and Deldigo. He said that the rebels have fled the battlefield, leaving behind a number of dead. He reported that a number of government forces were killed and wounded as well, but did not specify how many.’Tactical withdrawal without losses’ The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a coalition of rebel groups in Sudan, has acknowledged that there was a fierce battle with government forces in El Atmur. Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, spokesman for the SPLA-N, announced that the rebel forces withdrew tactically from El Atmur to the surrounding areas. He, however, strongly denied the statement of El Sawarmi that the rebels’ weapons and ammunition have been captured by the government forces. “What he claims is untrue; the SPLM-N has withdrawn for tactical reasons, without losses, and the spirits high,” Lodi stressed to Radio Dabanga. He added that the rebels will counter-attack the government forces soon. File photo: Local resdidents welcome soldiers returning from battlefield, in El Rahad, North Kordofan, on 28 May 2013, after the army announced that it liberated Abu Karshula in South Kordofan (Xinhua/Mohammed Babiker) Related: SPLM-N claims destruction Sudan army convoys, South Kordofan (16 May 2014)