Khartoum — The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army North (SPLM/A-N) claimed on Tuesday that they defeated an attempt by government forces to wrestle control of a village in South Kordofan state, killing 27 soldiers and capturing 3 prisoners.

A press release by the SPLM/A-N's official spokesperson Arnu Ngutulu Lodi said that government forces supported by 10 tanks and 100 vehicles some of them mounted with heavy machine guns attempted on Monday to occupy Daldoko village northeast of the state's provincial capital Kadugli.

Lodi in a statement exteneded to Sudan Tribune said that the SPLA-N repelled the assailing troops, inflicting heavy losses of lives and military equipments on them. According to Lodi, SPLA-N captured seven tanks, five of them in good conditions, from government forces which fled the area leaving 27 dead bodies on the ground.

The rebel spokesperson said they also captured three prisoners of war, identifying them as recruit/Mustafa Idris Belal Adam from the Fur tribe in Tandalti, recruit/Mohamed Abdorahim Ibrahim Joma from Al-Hamar tribe in North Kordofan, and recruit/Mohamed Hamad Mohamed Hamad from Hamdi tribe in Umdoban. On their side, Lodi said, they lost three "martyrs" and 11 were wounded.

Neither the Sudanese army nor state media reported the fighting. Reports of battles in South Kordofan are difficult to verify due to lack of media access to the area.

Fighting between the SPLM/A-N and Sudanese government forces in South Kordofan has recently intensified with the insurgents launching a number of mortar attacks on Kadugli.

The rebels claim the government has also escalated its campaign of aerial bombardment in their areas.