Dilling town falls to SPLM-N in South Kordofan

January 7, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) – In a significant development in South Kordofan state, SPLM-N forces, led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu, have taken full control of Dilling, one of the largest cities in the state. This follows reports of a deal between the SPLM-N and the Sudanese army to counter attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Meanwhile, the RSF has accused both the Sudanese army and the SPLM-N of committing widespread abuses against Arab ethnic groups in the area and liquidating their members within the army on allegations they were co-conspirators with the paramilitary forces.

Video footage circulating on social media on Sunday showed large numbers of SPLM-N soldiers, accompanied by Sudanese army soldiers, celebrating their arrival in Dilling with the residents.

One Arab Hawazma leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Sudan Tribune that members of the Sudanese Armed Forces had handed over Dilling to the SPLM-N forces after they allied to fight the RSF and all Arab tribes.

The local leader further accused Military Intelligence of planning to ignite an ethnic war in South Kordofan state due to the assassinations of several members of Arab tribes within the armed forces.

Tribal tensions between the Nuba and Hawazma groups in the region have pushed several officers and soldiers of the Sudanese army belonging to the local Arab group to flee the Dilling garrison following their targeting by their colleagues.

In a widely circulated video, the second commander of the Dilling garrison emphasized that the armed forces are a national institution representing all Sudanese people, and targeting specific groups based on ethnicity is unacceptable. He stated that this has instilled fear among some military personnel and led to a large number of soldiers deserting the army.

He continued, “We must only raise the gun against the enemy. We have reached the point where some fear being killed because they do not belong to the Nuba. This is unacceptable.”

Sudan Tribune was not able to obtain a comment from Sudanese army spokesman Nabil Abdallah, while the SPLM did not comment on the arrival of its forces into the second-largest city in South Kordofan state.

In a related development, Fatima Lagua, a member of the advisory team to the RSF commander, described in a statement to Sudan Tribune what happened in Dilling as “genocide of the Hawazma tribe.”

She noted that after the RSF entered the Habila area, west of the city, Army Intelligence used violence against the Arab ethnic groups residing in Dilling.

She spoke about the killing of a Sudanese army sergeant allegedly because he was loyal to the Rapid Support Forces.

She added they had received information indicating the arrest of the commander of the Dilling garrison, Brigadier General Mohamed Ali Al-Hilaliyya, and a number of officers after he was accused of supporting the RSF.

Lagua accused the Sudanese army and the SPLM forces of targeting the neighbourhoods of Al-Quz West and East, Al-Matar and Abu Zaid in Dilling with heavy artillery, which led to the killing of a large number of civilians, most of whom were from the Hawazma tribe.

(ST)