SPLM-N El Hilu accuses Sudan army of shelling South Kordofan capital

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu has fiercely denied statements by the South Kordofan government accusing rebel combatants of launching attacks on army bases in the state capital of Kadugli over the weekend. The SPLM-N El Hilu in turn condemned the Sudanese Armed Forces for attacking their sites.

The government of South Kordofan on Monday accused the SPLM-N El Hilu of shelling the city of Kadugli on Sunday, which led to the death of 44 people and the injury of 28 others who were transferred to Kadugli Hospital and the Military Hospital.

The rebel movement said in a statement seen by Radio Dabanga yesterday that “the hostile movements of the army began on January 30”, noting that the SAF had moved to the El Kuweik area and stationed themselves in the Hajar El Mek area near Kadugli.

The statement accused the SAF of bombing several areas under SPLM-N El Hilu control in the capital city on Saturday, and forcibly evacuating residents from these areas to Hajar El Mek, placing them in the line of fire. People fleeing towards areas controlled by the rebel fighters were stopped.

According to the SPLM-N, its forces confronted the army, inflicting heavy losses on it.

SPLM-N leader Jatego Dalman told Radio Dabanga yesterday that rebel combatants clashed with the attacking army forces in Hajar El Mek and were able to defeat them, inflicting heavy losses, and forcing them to retreat into Kadugli. He described the South Kordofan government’s accusations as “sheer lies”.

‘Food as a weapon’

Dalman attributed the SAF movements at this time to “their intention to obstruct the security situation in the region and to obstruct the distribution of humanitarian aid to the needy, which the Samaritan’s Purse organisation intends to implement between February 2 and 18”.

According to the rebel leader, there are 800 tons of humanitarian aid in Kadugli, flown in by the American NGO b from Juba, South Sudan, in the past few months.

He condemned “the use of food as a weapon against civilians”, which he said “the SAF has been been using continuously to starve the people” and called on the residents of Kadugli “to put pressure on the South Kordofan authorities to distribute these relief items to them”.

Similar moves

SPLM-N El Hilu leader Younis El Ehimer noted similar SAF movements in northern South Kordofan in preparation to attack SPLM-N positions in Delling. He underscored his movement’s “readiness to repel any attack or aggression targeting the areas under our control” to Radio Dabanga yesterday.

He pointed to attempts of the army force that took control of Um Rawaba a week ago to join the SAF force in Dalami in order to jointly advance and regain the road between Delling and Kadugli from the SPLM-N El Hilu.

Condemnations

Khaled Aleiser, the newly appointed federal Minister of Culture and Information and spokesman for the de facto government in Port Sudan in a statement yesterday, condemned the “indiscriminate shelling of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, by rebel fighters affiliated with the SPLM-N El Hilu”.

In a press statement, the minister said that the attack, “a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law” targeted the city’s grand market, residential areas, and shelters inside schools, leading to dozens of innocent civilian casualties.

He accused the SPLM-N El Hilu of “seeking to destabilise security and stability in the region, as the siege imposed by these forces has exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation, by cutting off of roads and supplies”.

The SPLM-N Revolutionary Front faction led by the vice president of the Sovereignty Council, Malik Agar (also called SPLM-N Agar), based in Blue Nile state, announced its solidarity with the victims of the attacks. It praised the role of the SAF and allied forces in confronting the attacks on Kadugli and protecting the lives of civilians.