SPLM/A claims destruction of government helicopters

The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) claimed on Thursday to have shot down two government military helicopters in the south of the country, and to have killed 28 soldiers in fighting over the last two weeks, Reuters news agency reported. SPLM/A spokesman Samson Kwaje said one of the helicopters, shot down on 1 October at Agut, in Western Upper Nile (Wahdah State), was being used to drive away civilians living in areas earmarked for oil exploration, according to the report. All five men aboard the helicopter were killed in the attack, he said. "Apart from the helicopter that was shot down [at Agut], Government of Sudan ground forces lost 28 officers and men killed in action and many more wounded, while the SPLA lost one and had six wounded," Reuters quoted Kwaje as saying. A second helicopter believed to have been carrying senior army officers was shot done near Raga town in Western Bahr al-Ghazal State on 21 September, according to the rebel group.