The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said Sunday it had recaptured overnight the southern town of Kapoeta, which had been under government control since 1993.
Speaking to AFP from Asmara, SPLA spokesman Yasser Arman provided no details on possible casualties during the fighting but said that several tanks had been seized from the government, which has one of its three main southern army bases in Kapoeta.
Arman added that the rebel operation on this town near the Kenyan border was in reprisal for recent government operations against SPLA strongholds in the provinces of Bahr al-Ghazal, Blue Nile and the central oil-rich regions.
Meanwhile, a Sudanese army spokesman, General Mohamed Beshir Suleiman said late Sunday the town fell in the face of "successive attacks by the outlaws."
The SPLA had attacked the town Saturday and captured it early Sunday afternoon when the government forces retreated, he said.
Led by John Garang, the SPLA has been fighting since 1983 for the self-determination of the mainly Christian and animist south against successive governments in the Arab and Muslim North. (albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
