Sudanese army repulses SPLM attack in S Kordofan

KHARTOUM - The Sudanese Army said Tuesday it repulsed an attack launched by the forces of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)-South Kordofan sector, refuting participation of rebels from Darfur in the attack, reported Sudanese Media Center (SMC).

"The armed forces have repulsed the attack and inflicted heavy loss on the attackers," the SMC quoted Sudanese Army spokesman Al- Sawarmy Khalid Saad as saying.

"The talk about participation of forces from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in the attack is not true," he added.

The Darfur rebel JEM announced earlier that it killed 150 Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers in a joint attack with the SPLM troops against an army camp near Kadogli, the capital of South Kordofan State.

The JEM announced last month that it would coordinate with the other Darfur rebel movements and the SPLM-South Kordofan sector, which has been launching military operations against the Sudanese government forces since June.

South Kordofan State, which is on the north-south Sudan border, has been witnessing since June 5 armed clashes between the Sudanese army and local rebels who used to belong to the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).