Sudan pro-government militia says recaptures town
KHARTOUM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A Sudanese pro-government militia said on Sunday it had seized the southern town of Akobo from the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in renewed fighting as peace talks continued in Kenya.
The government and the SPLA began a new round of talks last month seeking to end a 20-year-old civil war, but fighting has flared up despite a ceasefire agreed by the two sides in an earlier round of talks.
"A combined force of South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF) and the South Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) headed by commander Taban George took Akobo yesterday," an SSDF commander, Gathouth Gathoth, told Reuters.
He said his militia was not bound by the truce between the government and SPLA, although the SSDF is headed by Paulino Matip, a major-general in Sudan's army. The SSLM is an independent militia group headed by Michael Wal.
Gathoth said the attack avenged the SPLA's seizure of the town last year.
The Sudanese army could not be reached for comment.
An official with Sudan's Information Ministry said several militias were active in the area but the army was not involved.
Akobo, which has been in SPLA hands for about three months, is about 900 km (560 miles) south of Khartoum.
The town, on the Ethiopia border, is inhabited by the Nuer people, the second-largest tribe in southern Sudan and a bitter rival of the Dinka, the predominant ethnic group in the SPLA.
02/02/03 08:41 ET
