Sudanese army retakes rebel stronghold

14 December, 2000 (SUNA)

The Sudanese army says it has recaptured parts of the Nuba Mountains region from separatist rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army.

An army spokesman, General Mohammed Osman Yassin, told the official SUNA news agency that government troops retook three areas Keloulu, Daluka and Sat al-Dammam in the western Nuba from the SPLA during an offensive yesterday Wednesday.

General Yassin said the army had captured large quantities of weapons and liberated nine-thousand civilians from what he described as rebel captivity. He said the SPLA had used the people as human shields.

General Yassin said the government was now tightening its grip on the region, having already taken the eastern Nuba Mountains.

There's been no word from the SPLA