‘SPLM-N did not attack civilians in South Kordofan’s Kologi’

According to the governor of South Kordofan, 40 people were killed, and 45 others injured in attacks by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on military areas in eastern South Kordofan, on Thursday. A resident of Kologi denied attacks by SPLM-N rebels on civilians.

Governor Adam El Faki told the Ashorooq TV on Monday that apart from killing and injuring civilians, SPLM-N rebel fighters pillaged and destroyed 250 homes in Kologi on Thursday. He added that they torched 450 houses in El Rahmania, 25km southwest of Abu Jubaiha town. About 5,000 people fled from El Rahmania to the area of Abu Jubaiha.

Yet, a resident of Kologi strongly denied the killing of civilians. He told Radio Dabanga that “all the dead and wounded resulting from the battle in the area are army and militia troops, except for a woman and her son who were fatally hit by bullets.

“No one in Kologi lost their property,” he added, stressing that the rebels “did not touch anything belonging to the residents of the area”.

On Thursday, SPLM-N forces took control of El Rahmania, on the main road to Kologi, following a fierce battle with government forces. Witnesses saw “dozens of casualties on both sides”. Most of the population fled.

At the same time, fighting erupted between rebel and government forces in the area of Kologi. People told Radio Dabanga from Kologi that they counted 29 dead, including a woman and her child, and 23 injured. They noted that the rebel forces “did not infringe upon the citizens, their property or their money, and did not take anything with them when leaving the area”.

The British Ambassador to Sudan, Peter Tibber, condemned the SPLM-N attacks on civilians in eastern South Kordofan in a tweet on Monday, Sudan Tribune reported. He called on “on all sides to respect human rights and not attack civilians”.

Last week, the Sudanese government had blamed the UK for turning a blind eye on abuses committed by rebels in Darfur, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile.