Over 50 rebels killed in Blue Nile state: Sudanese army

Khartoum, April 22 (IANS) The Sudanese army Sunday claimed to have killed over 50 cadres and arrested 17 others from the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Northern Sector (SPLM-N) and seized control of three areas in the troubled Blue Nile state, the official SUNA news agency reported.

"The (Sudanese) armed forces have managed, during their military operations in Blue Nile state, to kill more than 50 rebels and arrested 17 others," reported Xinhua citing Major General Murtada Abdalla, commander of the fourth infantry in Damazin as telling SUNA.

Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and SPLM-N erupted in South Kordofan state in June last year, just one month before South Sudan officially announced its secession from Sudan, and spread to nearby Blue Nile in September.

Blue Nile state occupies a strategic location as it borders Ethiopia. Around 20,000 of SPLM-N fighters who fought alongside South Sudan against the Sudanese government during the civil war between the north and south are in the Blue Nile State.

The SPLM-N started a war in September against the government in Blue Nile State and controlled some major towns in the area.