Rebels in South Kordofan launched a number of artillery rounds at Kadugli on Friday. The shelling killed a child and hurt five others including one who was seriously wounded.

A witness in Kadugli told Radio Tamazuj that one of the shells landed near a water pump blowing off the legs of two children, one of whom died on the spot.

It is also reported in Kadugli that Ahmed Harun, the state governor, has ordered government workers to return to their offices. Some fled shelling during the recent Eid Al Adha holiday. The order triggered fears among workers that they could lose their jobs.

The shelling by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (North) is thought to be coming from the east of the town at a distance. Last month Kadugli was shelled at least three times.

The opposition forces claimed last week to destroy a government force around Daldogo village killing 70 soldiers. The army’s losses came during a failed offensive against SPLA-N positions outside Kadugli, according to Younnan Albarout Ajour, the rebels’ top political officer in Heiban Locality.

Ajour told a Catholic radio station that the rebels are ready to make a push to capture Kadugli. In the meantime, the state’s governor vowed to fight on saying that the Sudan Armed Forces can achieve peace through force.

Photo credit: SPLA-N fire a mortar during an offensive on Tolodi last March (Azhari Guda / NubaReports.org)