Army claims victory in Nubah Mountains

The Sudanese army on 11 August claimed to have repelled a rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) attack in the Nubah Mountains, news agencies reported. Army spokesman Lt-Gen Muhammad Bashir Sulayman was quoted by the official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) as saying that government troops had beaten back an SPLA offensive at Umm Dhuhayb in the eastern Nubah Mountains, inflicting “heavy losses in lives and equipment”. Sulayman did not say when the attack had taken place. He called on rebel fighters “who are taking up arms against their desire” to abandon military action and join the government ranks, AFP reported. Many of the three million Nubah people living in the mountains in Southern Kordofan State had joined the SPLM/A in its war against Khartoum, Reuters news agency reported. Aid agencies have accused forces loyal to Khartoum of intensive bombing campaigns and of preventing the delivery of essential humanitarian aid to the estimated 400,000 people in SPLA-controlled territory in the area. Many Nubians have reportedly been abducted by government troops and taken to army-controlled “peace camps” against their will.