SPLA claims military successes in Bentiu region

Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forces have achieved major military successes in the Bentiu region of Western Upper Nile over the past five weeks, an SPLA/SPLM press release said on Monday. It said SPLA forces under the command of Peter Gadet had repulsed two attempts on 22 April and 5 May by government forces in Mayom to attack SPLA positions near Mankien. The SPLA had ambushed and destroyed two government convoys near Bentiu on 22 April and 15 May, killing hundreds of enemy troops and capturing large quantities of weapons and equipment. The claims could not be independently verified. Bentiu, a major government-held garrison town and the centre of Western Upper Nile’s oil producing region has been the focal point of clashes between government and rebel forces in the last few months.