SPLM-N: ‘Sudan army advances towards Blue Nile sites’

The faction of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North that is led by Malik Agar (SPLM-N) accused the Sudanese army of breaching an unilateral cessation of hostilities. “The troops advanced towards our positions in Blue Nile state.”

The spokesman for the SPLM-N with Malik Agar as chair said that the movement “has detected secret movements of a government force coming from the Ed Damazin garrison heading to the movement's sites in Blue Nile”.

Spokesman Mubarak Ardol added: “This government force is stationed near our front lines in Blue Nile state where it is expected to clash with our forces at any time”. And: “This represents a flagrant violation of the declaration of the cessation of hostilities between the two parties, where the declaration prohibits military movements even for the purpose of intelligence survey.”

The press statement continued that the SPLM-N force is closely monitoring the army’s movements.

A rift within the SPLM-N leadership began in late March after the then Deputy Chairman Abdelaziz El Hilu submitted his resignation. He accused Secretary-General Yasir Arman, the movement’s chief negotiator, of disregarding the issue of self-determination for the Nuba Mountains in the peace talks.

In early July, the Nuba Mountains Liberation Council temporarily tasked El Hilu with the leadership of the movement after relieving chairman Malik Agar and Arman from their posts. The Blue Nile Liberation Council partially agreed to this decision.

Late August the SPLM-N faction of El Hilu met with the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) in the capital of Ethiopia to brief them on the situation “in the liberated areas” in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.