UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
SUDAN: Rebels, government claim victory in Blue Nile fighting
NAIROBI, 1 April (IRIN) - The rebel Sudan People's Liberation
Army (SPLA)
says it inflicted massive human and material losses
on Khartoum forces
during a three-day battle in southern Blue Nile state,
a claim rejected by
the Sudanese government.
Intensive fighting was reported between the two sides
from Thursday to
Saturday last week around the town of Ulu.
The SPLA said it killed 123 government soldiers in Ulu
and another 282
when it ambushed a National Islamic Front (NIF) convoy
which had been sent
to revamp government forces. It put the number of government
wounded at
700.
"This was the biggest battle since the 1997 one
in which the SPLA captured
central Equatoria," SPLA/M spokesman Samson Kwaje
told IRIN on Thursday.
"We defeated them and they fled. We are, and will
continue, chasing them
wherever they go since we already took the initiative.
SPLA will capture
many other areas." The opposition Voice of Sudan
radio said the SPLA lost
12 soldiers with "a few" wounded.
For its part, Khartoum said the rebels were "desperate"
to launch attacks
in this area to halt exploration and production operations
inside oil
fields.
"Heavy casualties were inflicted on the infiltrating
elements who ended
fleeing in disarray," a statement from the Sudanese
embassy in Nairobi,
received by IRIN, said on Thursday.
"A small number of the government's forces were
killed," the statement
said. It added that the SPLA infiltrated some areas
with the aim of
looting passengers and hijacking trucks on the Khartoum-Port
Sudan
highway. "There is a history of such past attempts,
staged mainly to give
the impression of instability in the area and consequently
affect the flow
of traffic and public opinion," the statement said.
[ENDS]
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 1999 16:47:12 +0300 (EAT)
From: IRIN - Central and Eastern Africa <irin@ocha.unon.org>
Subject: SUDAN: Rebels, government claim victory in
Blue Nile fighting [19990402]
Editor: Dr. Ali B. Ali-Dinar, Ph.D
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