Sudan Fights 'Proxy War' in Second Border Flashpoint Area

May 03, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Tensions have been escalating between Sudan and its southern neighbour after South Sudan captured the Heglig oil field. Sudan has since regained control of the facility. However, peace talks between Sudan and South Sudan have been suspended following the recent clashes. And Sudanese officials say those talks will not resume unless security issues are resolved. Meanwhile, the Nuba mountains along the border remain a flashpoint. The rebel group, Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), says that it is fighting for the liberation of the Nuba people. The SPLM-North is banned in Sudan. In the view of the Khartoum government, the group has been waging a proxy war against it with the backing of the authorities in Juba. And a former general says the SPLM-N is trying to topple the government in Khartoum. Al-Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from Sudan.

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Nuba Mountains

The Nuba Mountains is an area located in South Kordofan, Sudan. The area is home to a group of indigenous ethnic groups known collectively as the Nuba peoples. In the 18th century, Nuba Mountains became home to the kingdom of Taqali that controlled the hills of the mountains u... Explore this topic

South Kordofan conflict

The Sudan internal conflict is an ongoing conflict in the early 2010s between the Army of Sudan and the Sudan Revolutionary Front, particularly the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement in South Sudan. The... Explore this topic

Sudan

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan and sometimes called North Sudan, is an Arab state in North Africa and the Middle East bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Repu... Explore this topic

Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North

Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, also known as SPLM-N, is a banned militant organisation in the Republic of Sudan. It is currently actively primarily in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where its armed branch is engaged in an active insurgency against the g... Explore this topic

Proxy war

A proxy war or proxy warfare is a war that results when opposing powers use third parties as substitutes for fighting each other directly. While powers have sometimes used governments as proxies, violent non-state actors, mercenaries, or other third parties are more often empl... Explore this topic

Blue Nile (state)

Blue Nile called Central from 1991 until 1994, is one of the fifteen states of the Republic of Sudan. It was established by Presidential Decree Nº3 in 1992 and is named after the Blue Nile River. It has an area of 45,844 km² and an estimated population of 1,193,293 . The Centr... Explore this topic

South Kordofan

South Kordofan is one of the 15 wilayat or provinces of Sudan. It has an area of 158,355 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,100,000 people. Kaduqli is the capital of the state. It is centered around the Nuba Hills. Because among the states in Sudan, South Kordo... Explore this topic

SPLM

The Sudan People's Liberation Army is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement in 1983 and was a key protagonist of the Second Sudanese Civil War. Throughout the war, it was led by John Garang de Mabior. Following John Garang's deat... Explore this topic

Juba

Juba is the capital and largest city of the Republic of South Sudan. It also serves as the capital of Central Equatoria, the smallest of the ten states of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and functions as the seat and metropolis of Juba County. Explore this topic

Khartoum

Khartoum is the capital and second largest city of the Republic of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as th... Explore this topic

Also See

Nuba Mountains

South Kordofan conflict

Sudan

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