October 12, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese regular and paramilitary forces Friday staged a military parade in Kadugli, capital of the troubled South Kordfan state in a show of forces, days after a rebel mortar attack on the town.
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- A file picture showing members of the Popular Defence Forces (AFP)
The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement- North shelled Kadugli on Monday and Tuesday. They said that the attack was part of a new tactic aiming to export the war to the government controlled areas and to stop the continued air raids.
However the sporadic shells, which hit different parts of the town, killed six civilians and wounded some 23 people.
The artillery and tanks of the Sudan Armed Forces, police members, and the militia of Popular Defence Forces paraded in the streets of Kadugli while military helicopters planed simultaneously in the town on Friday.
Speaking to the troops participating in the parade, State governor Ahmed Haroun, said they extend their hands to those who want peace but are also ready for war with anyone attack them.
The governor also repeated that the SPLM-N shelled the town because of a consultative conference for peace in South Kordofan organised in Kadugli on 8 and 9 October .
"SPLM-Northern sector wanted to send a message saying 'We are here'; but unfortunately this message came on the bodies of women and children," he said.
In an interview with a private Sudanese TV channel Ashorooq on Thursday, Haroun said the attack did not affect the activities of the town's residents.
He added that the SPLM-N, after the signing of cooperation deals with the South Sudan, "became an orphan" who faces unknown destiny stressing they wanted through the attack to send a message without a future.
He went further to say that the SPLM-N has no other choice but to sit on the negotiating table with the government.
Khartoum says the SPLM-N have first to disarm and negotiate the unimplemented issues in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement related to the Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
The African Union mediation failed to organise direct talks between the sides because also the rebel group spoke about a comprehensive process that include Darfur rebels.
(ST)
