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Sudanese army says it controls strategic town in Blue Nile State

21 October 2011 04:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Sudanese Army on Thursday said it had controlled Sali, a strategic town in Blue Nile State, some nine km north of Kurmuk town which is a stronghold of Sudan People’s Liberation Army, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Thursday managed to liberate Sali town, some nine km north of Al-Kurmuk in Blue Nile State after a battle that lasted for about 12 hours with the SPLA, " said Al-Sawarmy Khalid Saad, SAF spokesperson in a statement Thursday.

"The rebel forces, led by Malik Agar, have fled at all directions leaving the dead and weapons behind. The SAF is currently combing all the area to clear it from the rebel pockets, " he added.

Since September this year, the Blue Nile area has been witnessing armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the SPLA, which pushed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to declare a state of emergency in the Blue Nile and removed its governor Malik Aqar who was chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s (SPLM) northern sector.

Around 20,000 of the SPLA fighters, who fought against the Sudanese government during the civil war between north and south Sudan, are in the Blue Nile State.