Sudan: <b>August 4, 2000</b>

August 4, 2000

More reports on the SPLA offensive. Now the SPLA claims to have driven Khartoum government forces out of the south Sudan town of Maker (Bahr el-Ghazal area). Maker is north of Mabior. Essentially, the SPLA is moving north along the railroad line.

Aug 2, 2000; The successful SPLA offensive continues. The SPLA claimed that its forces captured the south Sudan town of Mabior and are pursuing Khartoum government forces that are retreating north. According to sources interviewed by western journalists, capturing Mabior cuts a major railroad line. But all isn't well in the rebel camp-- in the south Sudan it never is. The rebels remain highly fractionalized, which is why the Khartoum government often manages to use one group of rebels to undermine another. That could be what's happening now. AFP carried a couple of recent reports that south Sudan rebel groups are once again fighting one another. Quoting a source from the South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SSLM/A), AFP reports that members of the Sudan People's Defense Forces (SPDF) and the SPLA have been fighting against each other in the Western Upper Nile area. The report suggests that the fighting has been heavy, with "hundreds" of casualties. Intra-rebel fighting was also reported near Jiech in Central Upper Nile.

Aug 2, 2000; "Doctors Without Borders" announced that it was pulling an aid mission out of the south Sudan town of Akuem, after a series of air attacks on the town by Khartoum government warplanes. The report said the attacks were conducted by jet aircraft.