Khartoum - Sudan is sending hundreds of troop reinforcements to the troubled
Blue Nile region, state-linked media said on Thursday, after reports of
clashes with rebels in a strategic border town.
Battalion 191 has arrived in the Blue Nile state capital Ed Damazin and two
more battalions are expected, reported the Sudanese Media Centre which is
close to the security apparatus.
It said the move aims to "improve the security in Blue Nile... to clean the
state of rebels."
Witnesses also reported fighter planes and helicopters in the area.
Sources told AFP that there has been fighting in El Kurmuk, a border town
about 240km south of Damazin.
"The reports that are coming consistently from that region are [of] fighting
between SPLM-N and SAF," one source familiar with the situation said on
Thursday.
"Kurmuk seems to be the hot-spot there," he said, referring to the Sudan
People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and the Sudanese Armed Forces
(SAF).
Another source on Tuesday had reported "heavy fighting" in Kurmuk since the
start of the week.
The war in Blue Nile has generally not been as intense as the one in South
Kordofan state, where the SPLM-N is also fighting, making the battle around
Kurmuk unusual.
The SPLM-N claimed last Sunday to have pushed into the town's southwest but
since then have made virtually no comment except to claim fighting continues
in the town.
Sudan's army spokesperson Sawarmi Khaled Saad could not be reached for
comment on Thursday.
Possible talks
Last Sunday, he denied the rebels were near the town and said their claim
was a "fabrication" designed to damage army morale.
Sudan's government severely restricts access to Blue Nile and South
Kordofan, where the SPLM-N took has been fighting government forces since
2011.
Khartoum accuses South Sudan of backing the SPLM-N but the South denies
involvement.
Kurmuk, an important trading centre on the Ethiopian border, is the
third-largest town in Blue Nile and has been in government hands since
November 2011.
The report of troops arriving in Damazin came a day after the rebel's
spokesperson, Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, told AFP that Khartoum had sent
reinforcements from the Popular Defence Force (PDF) to the Blue Nile state
capital.
The PDF are a type of reserve force used frequently to support the SAF.
A Sudan analyst said fighting in Blue Nile and Kurmuk would be no surprise
ahead of possible talks between the rebels and the government, as each side
would want to present themselves as being in a strong position.
The United Nations and the African Union have for months called on the
SPLM-N and Khartoum to reach a negotiated settlement.
Fighting in the two states has led to "truly appalling" conditions for
civilians trapped in the region, the UN humanitarian operations director
John Ging said in January.
More than 200 000 people have fled as refugees to South Sudan and Ethiopia,
the UN says.
An additional one million have been affected inside Blue Nile and South
Kordofan, according to figures from the humanitarian wing of the rebels and
data from the government's aid agency.
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2013 - 06:54:53 EST
