Sudan: South Kordofan Rebels Killed in Clash with Army
Khartoum: Hundreds of SPLM-North fighters have been killed in Sudan’s South Kordofan state following clashes with Sudanese army, local officials have said.
Local governor Ahmed Haroun said the SPLM-North rebels were killed when government troops repelled offensive attacks on Talodi city, near its border with the newly independent South Sudan.
“Several hundred members of the movement were killed this day in an assault on the city of Talodi that was repelled by the armed forces,” said Haroun.
Haroun has been charged by the International Criminal Court alongside President Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur, where he served as governor.
Rebel officials have denied the claims saying that only two rebel fighters had been killed and that many government troops had been killed in the ongoing fighting.
Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad was quoted by the AFP news agencies saying that more than 700 rebels had been killed on Monday morning together with 12 officers in the assault to occupy the city.
“The armed forces waited for the invaders to arrive on three fronts with equipment and on several vehicles, but in an hour the armed forces and popular defence forces beat back the attack, causing heavy losses,” he said.
South Kordofan along with Abyei and Blue Nile states along Sudan’s border with the independent south have been gripped in conflict since south’s independence in July. Thousands have been displaced in the three regions since the government launched operations to root out the rebels, once allied to the south’s SPLM that now forms the new southern government.
Human rights groups have accused the Sudanese government of carrying out an ethnic cleaning in the Nuba Mountains that have been the centre of the government operation.
Tripoli, Libya
NTC elects New PM as NATO Ends Libyan Mission
Libya’s interim authorities have elected a new prime minister to head a transitional government, as NATO formally announced end of its military campaign in Libya.
Abdel Rahim al-Kib a little-known academic native of the capital, Tripoli was elected prime minister on Monday following a public vote carried out by members of the provisional National Transitional Council (NTC). Al-Kib, an electrical engineer won against four other candidates with 26 out of total 51 votes cast.
“This vote proves that Libyans are able to build their future,” NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said after the end of the election.
On the same day, NATO announced that it was ending its campaign in Libya saying there was no major role left for the military alliance in Libya. The decision comes after a UN Security Council resolution drafted by Russia was adopted unanimously, putting an end to the seven-month mission that saw end to Col Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year reign.
“At midnight tonight, a successful chapter in NATO's history is coming to an end. But you have also started writing a new chapter in Libya's history,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters during a joint conference with NTC’s Abdel Jalil in Tripoli.
Rasmussen said members of NATO were free to offer further security aid to Libya, individually, following end of the mission which he termed as “one of the most successful” operations in the history of the 62 year old alliance.
The decision to end the operation comes despite requests by the NTC to extend their engagement. UN has expressed concern over the massive weapons stockpile built up under Gaddafi’s regime which it says could fuel terrorist activities.
The UN Security Council has called on Libya and its neighbours to stamp out proliferation of looted arms, calling also for destruction of chemical weapons amassed by Gaddafi in coordination with international authorities.
NATO took over the operation on March 31 to implement a UN resolution that sought to protect civilians under attacks from the slain leader’s forces. Over 26,000 sorties have been flown, where 5,900 targets including tanks and rocket launchers have been destroyed in the operation.