Khartoum claims to have killed 15 rebels in Nuba mountains fighting

KHARTOUM
August 19, 2001 (AFP)

Sudan's armed forces claimed Sunday to have killed 15 rebels in the Nuba mountains region of central Sudan, forcing the rest of the attackers to flee, the official SUNA news agency reported.

Armed forces spokesman General Mohammed Beshir Suleiman said the army had inflicted "heavy losses" on the rebels, capturing a large amount of weapons and ammunition after the rebels attacked in the Dara locality.

Suleiman said the battle was the latest in a string of recent rebel defeats in the Nuba mountains region.

Southern-based rebels led by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have been fighting successive Khartoum governments in a civil war since 1983.