Report says clashes have erupted between Sudan’s army and rebels in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan, on Monday, a week after the rebels had shelled the state capital near the border with South Sudan.
15 rebels have been killed and several rebels have been wounded foolowing the attack near South Kordofan’s main city Kadugli on Sunday says Sudanese army spokesperson Al-Sawarmi. He added that the army has also resisted an SLPM-North attack near the villages of Annagarko and Hgerjawad villages on Friday. The SPLM-North confirmed the fighting took place near Annagarko and Hgerjawad and 20 soldiers were said to be wounded.
The rebel force also said it has clashed with the army further along the border in Surkum in Blue Nile state on Monday, but the army denied the report. Since June last year, the fighting, has forced more than half a million people to flee and stoked tensions between Sudan and South Sudan, former enemies in a civil war that was fuelled by oil, ethnicity and religion. The armies of Sudan and South Sudan have also clashed across the border July last year since the South declared independence, under the terms of the 2005 peace deal that ended their civil war.
Last month, the two countries agreed to set up a barrier zone along the border after coming under international pressure to end the violence. But there has been scant progress in parallel indirect talks between Khartoum and SPLM-North, which fought as part of the southern rebel army during the civil war. Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing the rebel and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North), have been charges dismissed by the South’s government. SPLM-North, which accuses the government of marginalizing large parts of South Kordofan and other border areas, has formed an alliance with other rebel groups to try and overthrow President Omar Hassan al-Bashir from power.