Sudan: Rebels Shoot Down Government War Plane

Khartoum--Rebels in the restive Sudanese border state of South Kordofan say they have shot down a government military aircraft that had attacked rebel targets in the area.

Spokesman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) Amu Ngutulu Lodi told the AFP news agency that its fighters shot down the Antonov bomber in the Jau area of South Kordofan on Wednesday.

The rebels “shot at it until they saw the wing burning” said Mr Lodi referring to the government aircraft that crushed near Sudan’s disputed border with South Sudan.

The Khartoum government has not so far commented on the rebel claim, though also the claim has not been independently verified because of the restricted access to the area.

Fleeing residents have reported of recent heavy fighting between the government forces and SPLM-N fighters in the area, describing frequent air raids by government warplanes.

SPLM-N a faction of the now South Sudan rulers SPLM fought alongside during the civil war years and had firmly supported South’s secession last year.  Last year in June the government launched an operation it said was to disarm the rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, but faced wide criticism that it was targeting the Nuba ethnic community.

Sudanese government accuses South Sudan of aiding the rebels, claims Juba denies with accusations that Khartoum is backing rebels within its territory.

Last month US deputy Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Anne Richard, accused SPLM-N rebels of recruiting child soldiers from the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan.

"We've asked that they not take children to serve as soldiers on the other side of the border," she said, following her tour to Yida camps which has reportedly been hit severally in recent times by the Khartoum forces.

Dispute over oil resources and a possible demarcation of the 1800km border nearly brought the two sides to an all-out war in April. However a deal brokered by the African Union in September saw the two sides resume oil sales and establish a buffer zone on the disputed border.

South Sudan became independent in July last year, taking most of the oil wells, but needs the north’s pipeline to transport its crude to ports in the north.

Bamako, Mali

Islamist Mali Rebels want Rebel

Islamist rebel group Ansar Dine occupying northern Mali has rallied for region’s other rebel movements to join them in talks to end fighting, ahead of a planned military operation by regional bloc to root out extremists in the region.

The move comes after envoys of the rebel outfit met with the chief regional mediator, Bukinafaso President Blaise Compaore, "all the armed movements" to imitate it with the aim of establishing "an inclusive political dialogue."

In a statement read by one of the envoy Mohamed Aharid, the group called for “a total halt to hostilities, the respect of fundamental rights and freedoms”, calling for return of all displaced people and creation of an environment conducive to adopt and implement peace agreement that would address deep causes of the crisis.

Tuareg rebels and Islamist groups fought together for control of the northern territory they want independent but have since fallen out, engaging in heavy clashes that have seen the Islamists pushing the Tuaregs from all their positions.

Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith, in Arabic) reportedly made up of Islamist fighters from Mali and other African states including Algeria and Nigeria, has implemented an extreme form of sharia in the cities it controls.

In July the group destroyed century old mausoleums of Islamic saints in the ancient city of Timbuktu over what it termed as “idolatrous” to Islamic reveres, attracting an international outcry.

The West African regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is yet to approve a plan for the military intervention in Mali to reclaim the rebel-held northern region.

The UN Security Council wants a “feasible and actionable” military plan to counter the separatists who have raised fear of northern Mali becoming a potential launchpad for Jihadi actions by the al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The Tuareg-led MLNA rebels launched an uprising in March seeking autonomy of northern region they refer to as state of Azawad, a significant transit and smuggling point in the vast desert.

Renegade Malian troops led by Captain Amadou Sanogo launched a coup the same month against President Amadou Toumani Toure in what they claim was in response to the government’s inability to suppress the Tuareg-led rebellion.