The Chief of Staff (CoS) of the Sudanese rebel alliance SRF has declared that it is \u201cnot impossible\u201d for his forces to enter Khartoum, Omdurmam or Port Sudan. His declarations come in response to \u201crumours in the Sudanese media\u201d that rebels were preparing to invade Dongola, in the north of the country.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Radio Dabanga on Monday, Abdul Aziz Al Hilu said that the SRF \u201chas legitimate rights\u201d to move freely within the country\u2019s territory, considering that its members are Sudanese nationals.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the NCP [ruling National Congress Party] troops can go to different places and wage war and attack civilians, we can follow them. Why did they go to Kadugli, Al Buram, Tolodi? We have the same rights,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n
Al Hilu, who is also vice-chairman of the rebel group SPLM-N in South Kordofan, said he needs the Sudanese people to know that the SRF does not attack or rob civilians. \u201cWe attack the NCP because they are the enemy of the people and therefore, the enemy of we rebels too.\u201d<\/p>\n
His declarations come after reports \u201cby the NCP\u201d that the SRF had targeted civilians when it fought for control of the towns of Abu Karshola and Umm Rawaba, in South and North Kordofan respectively, just over a week ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaims of us attacking and killing civilians is part of the on-going propaganda of the NCP against us\u201d, the rebel CoS said. He stressed that last week\u2019s attacks were in response to assaults waged by government troops on rebel-controlled areas. \u201cWe repelled the attack and pursued NCP troops until inside Abu Karshola and Umm Rawaba\u201d.<\/p>\n
When questioned about the SRF\u2019s current position after it \u201cwithdrew\u201d from Umm Rawaba, Al Hilu said the rebels drove-off Sudanese troops and therefore achieved their goal. The SRF then returned to their home-base area before the NCP could launch a counter-attack.<\/p>\n
Similarly with regard to the area of Umm Barmbita, South Kordofan, Al Hilu explains that some militia elements, Popular Defence Forces and NCP troops attacked the SRF in rebel-controlled Sarafaya (South Kordofan). \u201cBut we beat them, and then pursued some of them until near Umm Barmbita. Then we came back. There have been no attacks in Umm Barmbita itself,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
Al Hilu also categorically denied allegations of Umm Barmbita being ‘in SRF hands’: \u201cIt is not the objective of our troops to take the town or even to enter it. What happened was a reaction to the attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sudan army spokesman Colonel Al Sawarmi Khalid Saad disputes this. In a statement on Monday, he alleged that \u201cSudanese Armed Forces (SAF) repelled an offensive of SRF \u2018remnants\u2019 on Umm Barmbita\u201d and inflicted heavy casualties on them, including injuries and equipment, apart from seizing heavy weapons and destroying armoured vehicles.<\/p>\n
He pledged the SAF would \u201cclean all the areas of SRF remnants to achieve its goals and enabling the citizens to return to their home villages after they were forced to flee the area as a result of the \u2018aggression\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n
The rebel CoS said that his forces will continue to pursue and harass the NCP troops until the NCP resigns. \u201cThat will mean that the NCP will have listened to the voice of reason, listened to the opposition, the New Dawn signatories, the civil society organisations, and is prepared to obey the resolutions of the international community to allow the Sudanese to live in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil then, the SRF will pursue the NCP, if necessary all the way to Khartoum to dethrone Al Bashir the \u2018Pharaoh of Sudan\u2019. \u201c<\/p>\n
File photo: Abdul Aziz Alhilu (Sudan Tribune)<\/em><\/p>\n Related<\/em>: 20,000 flee hostilities in North Kordofan, Sudan<\/a> (2 May 2013)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n