The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) announced its readiness to defend the people of the Nuba Mountains during “Phase Two” of the government’s “dry season” offensive against the rebel movement, recently announced by President Omar Al Bashir.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Jegoud Mekwar Murada, SPLM-N Deputy Command Chief and First Front [Nuba Mountains] Commander, told Radio Dabanga in an interview on Tuesday that the rebel forces are fully prepared for their defence campaign. “We are ready to repel all government attacks, in order to protect the civilians, and disrupt the rigged election”.<\/p>\n
He said that the SPLM-N is in control of the situation in the Nuba Mountains, and explained that they withdrew from Habila, Kologi, and El Rahmaniya, to avoid civilian casualties “caused by the heavy bombardments and shelling by the army”.<\/p>\n
Attacks on civilians<\/strong><\/p>\n Murada strongly denied that rebel fighters killed and robbed dozens of people in the war-stricken area. He described the accusations by the government as “old propaganda, to imbue the international community with a negative view of the SPLM-N.<\/p>\n “It is the government that is attacking civilians day after day. And because the authorities are controlling the media, they can lie as they desire. What we did, was warning the people of Habila for the air raids, and urging them to leave the town for their own safety.”<\/p>\n Through Radio Dabanga, he demanded the formation of an international inquiry committee to investigate these allegations, and expressed his movement’s readiness to comply with any field investigation.<\/p>\n In a rare step, the rebel command chief apologised for any civilian casualty caused by the fighting, “though we are absolutely certain that we did not kill any civilian, even by a stray bullet”, stressing that they took up their arms for the sake of the people.<\/p>\n