AFRICA/SUDAN - New clashes in South Kordofan: the crisis is likely to worsen

Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - Heavy fighting erupted yesterday, September 22, in the state of South Kordofan, on the border between north and south Sudan, after rebels of the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Movement North Sudan (SPLM-N) attacked army positions in Khartoum, the latest sign of an escalating conflict. SPLM-N claimed that its troops destroyed two garrisons of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), after fierce fighting in Khor Al- Dulib area of Al-Rashad locality, 20 miles south of Al-Dilling town.
According to Gamar Dalman, the advisor to the SPLM-N’s chairman in South Kordofan, the rebel troops inflicted heavy losses in lives on SAF and its paramilitary forces. The chief of the guerrillas said that SPLM-N is determined to "free all the towns in the region". Sources connected to the Khartoum government argued instead that the Sudanese army rejected the attacks, and inflicted heavy losses to the SPLM-N men.
South Kordofan, a region in the north which borders with Southern Sudan is inhabited by people who are close to the State of the South, so much so that the SPLM-N was part of the SPLM, the movement that fought for the independence of Southern Sudan (officially announced in July). In January in South Kordofan a referendum was supposed to be held to decide the fate of the region, but the local government suspended the consultation. Since then armed clashes started again. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 23/09/2011)