Renewed fighting has broken out in the eastern Nuba Mountains between the SPLA-North and the Sudan Armed Forces, forcing hundreds to flee. The preliminary report is however unclear as to the scale of the clashes.

The spokesman for the Sudan People Liberation Army-North, Arno Ngotulo, told Radio Tamazuj that the SPLA-N forces spotted movement of the Sudanese army and its militia to attack SPLA-controlled areas. He added that battles have continued since Tuesday in Al Murib and Shamshaga in the eastern mountains of South Kordofan.

Hundreds of civilians have fled the fighting, according to Arno, who noted that the affected people will not be able to receive any humanitarian assistance because of Khartoum’s ban on aid organizations working behind rebel lines.

The SPLA spokesman asserted that the clashes are continuing, but had no knowledge of the numbers of injured or dead on either side.

Ngutolo appealed to the backers of the ‘tripartite proposal’ – the African Union, League of Arab States, and United Nations – to force Khartoum to stop bombarding citizens in Blue Nile and South Kordofan and to allow aid access to the SPLA areas.

Radio Tamazuj was unable to contact independent sources to verify the report of the clashes.