The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) announced on Tuesday that at least seven army officers were killed and 17 soldiers injured in battle with the SPLA-North rebel group in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan State.
Brig. Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami, spokesperson for the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), told Radio Tamazuj that the dead were three high ranking officers and four Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs).
“From our side we have martyrs. We have about three officers who are martyrs, and 17 wounded soldiers, and we have four NCOs. So we ask God to rest their souls in peace because this happed while defeating the rebels in order to restore stability in the beloved country Sudan,” said al-Shami.
Al-Shami further said clashes with the SPLA-N were ongoing in various fronts in Nuba Mountains.
He claimed they killed several rebel soldiers and seized and destroyed military equipment at Karkaya area when they attempted to fight back in Um Sardaba village on Tuesday afternoon.
Sudanese government spokesperson Ahmed Bilal Osman said in an earlier interview with Radio Tamazuj that his government will fight until peace is achieved in South Kordofan.
Ahmed said the SPLA-N rebels do not want peace because they refused to sign on to the recent AU peace roadmap which the government agreed to.
File photo: Troji battlefield in South Kordofan, near the border with South Sudan, 9 January 2014 (Radio Tamazuj)
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