KHARTOUM: Sudanese rebels and government troops clashed on two fronts, both sides said Friday, after the US urged Sudan to agree on a demilitarized zone with South Sudan, which Khartoum accuses of backing the insurgents.
Rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan state said they “liberated” a village northeast of Kologi town on Thursday, but gave no further details.
Separately, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) insurgents from Darfur, in Sudan’s west, said they and other insurgents had Thursday defeated government forces at Tanga, in the East Jebel Marra mountains of South Darfur state.
The JEM statement gave no casualty figures but said the insurgents seized vehicles from the army.
JEM and other Darfur rebels are joined with SPLM-N in a Revolutionary Front to overthrow the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime they say is unrepresentative of the country’s diversity.
Following the rebel announcements, army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad appeared on state television late Friday.
He accused the rebels of attacking a village in East Jebel Marra on Thursday, sparking a battle that left 32 rebels dead. The army suffered some dead and wounded, and seized equipment, he said.
Earlier Thursday, 45 rebels died in fighting with the army after the insurgents attacked east of Kologi in South Kordofan, Saad added.
Casualty claims are difficult to verify with access to both Darfur and South Kordofan restricted.
The fighting comes after Sudan and South Sudan last Tuesday resumed African Union-led talks in Ethiopia to resolve security and other crucial issues.
Sudan and South Sudan fought along their undemarcated frontier in March and April, sparking fears of wider war and leading to a UN Security Council resolution which ordered a cease-fire and the AU talks.
Sudan Army, rebels clash on two fronts
