KHARTOUM
The Sudanese army on Thursday said its troops had repelled an attack by the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan province on the border with South Sudan.
"In a desperate attempt to enter Kaloji town, the SPLM-N lost a large number of its fighters and equipment used in the attack [which was] repulsed by the armed forces," army spokesman Al-Sawarmy Khaled Saad was quoted as saying by state news agency SUNA.
The SPLM-N has yet to comment on the spokesman's assertions.
Since 2011, the SPLM-N has been fighting Sudanese government forces in South Kordofan and Blue Nile State near the border with South Sudan.
Outlawed by Khartoum, the SPLM-N consists largely of fighters who sided with the south during Sudan's decades-long civil war.
African Union-sponsored talks between the rebel group and Khartoum – the last round of which took place in Addis Ababa in December – have so far failed to produce any breakthroughs.
Over 1.2 million people have been affected by the ongoing conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, according to recent UN estimates.
