When
northern Sudanese troops seized the disputed border town
of Abyei last month, it was a sign that the fragile six-year-old
peace between north and south Sudan was teetering. Embattled
fighters in Sudan's flashpoint northern state of Southern
Kordofan said on Sunday that they had shot down two northern
army planes, claims denied by Khartoum.
"On Friday, our troops shot down two SAF
(Sudanese Armed Forces) planes. One was an
Antonov bomber in Kalkul and the other was a MiG Joint-3
in Kauda," said Gamar Delman. He is media adviser
to former deputy governor Abdelaziz al-Hilu, a key member
of the northern branch of the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement (SPLM), the ruling party in the south.
Heavy clashes between the Sudanese
Armed Forces (SAF) and northern members of
the former southern rebel army have raged all week across
Southern Kordofan, the north's only oil-producing state,
with intense fighting in and around state capital Kadugli.
Saturday, June 11, 2011, The Sudan Armed Forces battled
Abdelaziz Al Hilu’s forces with tanks, warplanes,
infantry and artillery on the seventh consecutive day
of fighting in Southern Kordofan. The SAF deployed tanks
and infantry to SPLM/A-held areas near Kadugli, used cattle-trucks
to round up suspected SPLM sympathizers in Kadugli town,
and launched air strikes on targets in the Nuba Mountains,
in the border area near Unity State, and near Kadugli.
The
air strikes from this week have caused the displacement
of 75,000 civilians. They took place in nine areas of
Southern Kordofan and continued up to yesterday, June
11, 2011.