Sudanese top military official comes under rebel attack during visit: sources
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Elisabeth Janaina
Jun 2, 2013, 12:15:11 AM6/2/13
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Sudanese top military official comes under rebel attack during visit: sources
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May 31, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF)
rebels said Friday they downed a military helicopter near Abu Kershola
where a Sudanese army top commander was on a visit to inspect the
recently reclaimed area, but the army denied the rebel claims.
Sudanese army chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Ismat Abdel-Rahman (SUNA)
SRF spokesperson Abu El-Gassim Al-Haj said in a statement released
today that the military plane had been downed in an attack carried by
the SRF artillery forces army positions, adding that all the crew
members were killed.
Gibril Adam, spokesman for the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM) told Reuters its fighters had attacked a government convoy
carrying Sudan’s army chief of staff, Ismat Abdelrahman, just outside
Abu Kershola.
"We managed to shoot down a helicopter and hit another one," Adam
said, adding that nine people had been killed in fighting.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson, Al-Sawarmi Khaled, in
Khartoum denied the rebel statements, and said the helicopter crashed
due to technical failure during combing operations carried out by the
army in Abu Kershola.
However, sources told Sudan Tribune that Sudanese army Chief of Staff
narrowly escaped death when he visited the area’s frontlines. The
shelling started on his convoy from rebels in mountains nearby
prompting Sudanese troops to use tanks and helicopters to secure and
evacuate the senior army official safely.
In the process a helicopter was shot down, the sources add.
Eyewitnesses speaking to Reuters and Agence France Presse (AFP)
confirmed the incident.
A witness told Reuters heavy shooting broke out after rebels opened
fire on the convoy carrying General Abdel-Rahman and the army had used
tanks and a helicopter, which apparently was hit.
"I saw a helicopter in the air clouded in smoke," the witness said.
"During a visit by senior army officials, shots were fired at army
positions in the town from the north, and the assailants exchanged
fire with the army, who were using tanks," the witness told AFP under
condition of anonymity.
He also said he had "seen smoke and flames coming out of a
helicopter," and that after the incident, "the aircraft that
transported the officials left the town".
Abu-Kershola which is located in north east of South Kordofan state
and on the border with North Kordofan, had been seized by the rebel
Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) fighters on 27 April, but SAF was able
to recapture the town this week.
Earlier on Friday, Abu Kershola received a military delegation led by
SAF chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Ismat Abdel-Rahman to celebrate
the recapture of the town from the rebels and to inspect the troops.
General Abdel-Rahman, who was accompanied by senior military officers
to visit the area, has affirmed SAF’s determination to defeat the
armed rebel groups and regain control over all Sudan’s territory.
In a speech to the troops hours before the attack on Friday,
Abdel-Rahman said that the liberation of Abu-Kershola is a "message to
the enemies of Islam and Sudan", stressing that SAF is "resolved to
liberate every inch of the Sudan’s territory and cleanse the Nuba
Mountains of rebels and mercenaries".
The Sudanese general was alluding to the SPLM-N rebels who control the
Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state since June 2011. Recently the
SPLM-N and its allied Darfur rebel groups established a joint command
in Kauda, one of thetown in the troubled state.
Abdel-Rahman further praised the "heroic role" of SAF’s officers, and
soldiers as well as the Mujahideen (holy fighters) of the Popular
Defense Forces (PDF) and other regular forces.
The commander of SAF’s force which recaptured the town, Adel Ali
Al-Kanani, for his part, said that the battle in Abu-Kershola stressed
that "the enemy suffered a decisive defeat".
Following SAF’s recapture of Abu-Kershola, the SRF announced that it
had decided to withdraw its fighters from Abu-Kershola due to the
economic blockade imposed by the Sudanese army on the town since last
April and its disastrous humanitarian impact on the civilians.
They further said that their operation was a positive test for their
plans and future attacks aiming to extend the war into other regions
in order to topple the regime.
The eastern South Kordofan town also received on Friday a convoy of
humanitarian assistance from Um Ruwaba, a town in North Kordofan the
rebels attacked before to seize Abu Kershola, to support the civilians
who suffered the lack of food during the last weeks.
On the other hand a delegation composed of South Kordofan state
officials visited people displaced from Abu Kershola in Al-Rahad town
in North Kodofan.
The visiting delegation which was mainly composed of officials from
the Nuba Mountains meant to alleviate their suffering after the
"negative repercussions" of the attack on Abu Kershola said Omar
Rahama Al-Nour director of Nida for Aid and Development, a Sudanese
aid group.
The government accused the SPLM-N rebels from the Nuba Mountains of
killing some traditional and local leaders in Abu Kershola during the
past weeks when they controlled the area.
(ST)
ArticleComments (48)
EmailPrintSave
May 31, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF)
rebels said Friday they downed a military helicopter near Abu Kershola
where a Sudanese army top commander was on a visit to inspect the
recently reclaimed area, but the army denied the rebel claims.
Sudanese army chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Ismat Abdel-Rahman (SUNA)
SRF spokesperson Abu El-Gassim Al-Haj said in a statement released
today that the military plane had been downed in an attack carried by
the SRF artillery forces army positions, adding that all the crew
members were killed.
Gibril Adam, spokesman for the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement
(JEM) told Reuters its fighters had attacked a government convoy
carrying Sudan’s army chief of staff, Ismat Abdelrahman, just outside
Abu Kershola.
"We managed to shoot down a helicopter and hit another one," Adam
said, adding that nine people had been killed in fighting.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson, Al-Sawarmi Khaled, in
Khartoum denied the rebel statements, and said the helicopter crashed
due to technical failure during combing operations carried out by the
army in Abu Kershola.
However, sources told Sudan Tribune that Sudanese army Chief of Staff
narrowly escaped death when he visited the area’s frontlines. The
shelling started on his convoy from rebels in mountains nearby
prompting Sudanese troops to use tanks and helicopters to secure and
evacuate the senior army official safely.
In the process a helicopter was shot down, the sources add.
Eyewitnesses speaking to Reuters and Agence France Presse (AFP)
confirmed the incident.
A witness told Reuters heavy shooting broke out after rebels opened
fire on the convoy carrying General Abdel-Rahman and the army had used
tanks and a helicopter, which apparently was hit.
"I saw a helicopter in the air clouded in smoke," the witness said.
"During a visit by senior army officials, shots were fired at army
positions in the town from the north, and the assailants exchanged
fire with the army, who were using tanks," the witness told AFP under
condition of anonymity.
He also said he had "seen smoke and flames coming out of a
helicopter," and that after the incident, "the aircraft that
transported the officials left the town".
Abu-Kershola which is located in north east of South Kordofan state
and on the border with North Kordofan, had been seized by the rebel
Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) fighters on 27 April, but SAF was able
to recapture the town this week.
Earlier on Friday, Abu Kershola received a military delegation led by
SAF chief-of-staff, Lieutenant General Ismat Abdel-Rahman to celebrate
the recapture of the town from the rebels and to inspect the troops.
General Abdel-Rahman, who was accompanied by senior military officers
to visit the area, has affirmed SAF’s determination to defeat the
armed rebel groups and regain control over all Sudan’s territory.
In a speech to the troops hours before the attack on Friday,
Abdel-Rahman said that the liberation of Abu-Kershola is a "message to
the enemies of Islam and Sudan", stressing that SAF is "resolved to
liberate every inch of the Sudan’s territory and cleanse the Nuba
Mountains of rebels and mercenaries".
The Sudanese general was alluding to the SPLM-N rebels who control the
Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan state since June 2011. Recently the
SPLM-N and its allied Darfur rebel groups established a joint command
in Kauda, one of thetown in the troubled state.
Abdel-Rahman further praised the "heroic role" of SAF’s officers, and
soldiers as well as the Mujahideen (holy fighters) of the Popular
Defense Forces (PDF) and other regular forces.
The commander of SAF’s force which recaptured the town, Adel Ali
Al-Kanani, for his part, said that the battle in Abu-Kershola stressed
that "the enemy suffered a decisive defeat".
Following SAF’s recapture of Abu-Kershola, the SRF announced that it
had decided to withdraw its fighters from Abu-Kershola due to the
economic blockade imposed by the Sudanese army on the town since last
April and its disastrous humanitarian impact on the civilians.
They further said that their operation was a positive test for their
plans and future attacks aiming to extend the war into other regions
in order to topple the regime.
The eastern South Kordofan town also received on Friday a convoy of
humanitarian assistance from Um Ruwaba, a town in North Kordofan the
rebels attacked before to seize Abu Kershola, to support the civilians
who suffered the lack of food during the last weeks.
On the other hand a delegation composed of South Kordofan state
officials visited people displaced from Abu Kershola in Al-Rahad town
in North Kodofan.
The visiting delegation which was mainly composed of officials from
the Nuba Mountains meant to alleviate their suffering after the
"negative repercussions" of the attack on Abu Kershola said Omar
Rahama Al-Nour director of Nida for Aid and Development, a Sudanese
aid group.
The government accused the SPLM-N rebels from the Nuba Mountains of
killing some traditional and local leaders in Abu Kershola during the
past weeks when they controlled the area.
(ST)
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