\n Government forces and rebels in Sudan's war-torn border regions say they are preparing for another bout of fighting after the latest talks in Addis Ababa failed to reach a deal.\n<\/p>\n
\n The African Union-mediated talks ended last month without a temporary ceasefire being agreed in Darfur, mired in conflict since 2003, and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where rebels have been battling since 2011.\n<\/p>\n
\n Now the rainy season that leaves roads in the regions impassable has ended, both sides are braced for more fighting.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We are preparing to defend ourselves,\" said Arnu Lodi of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, which is based in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Our troops are in high morale, well trained and prepared,\" Lodi said.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan's military also says it is on high alert in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"We know that they are preparing and we are preparing too,\" said spokesman Colonel Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami.\n<\/p>\n
\n The military had been tracking the rebels' movements during the talks, Shami said, declining to give further details.\n<\/p>\n
\n The latest negotiations came during a period of calm in Sudan's conflict-hit peripheries.\n<\/p>\n
\n President Omar al-Bashir announced a two-month ceasefire in September to persuade rebels to join a national dialogue in Khartoum.\n<\/p>\n
\n The period coincided with the wet season, when torrential rains usually halt fighting, but the SPLM-N accused Khartoum of carrying out air raids.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Despite the military's commitment to the ceasefire announced by the president, it hasn't abandoned its duty to train, mobilise and protect the country,\" Shami said.\n<\/p>\n
\n - No end in sight -\n<\/p>\n
\n Bashir has been battling ethnic insurgents in Darfur for 12 years, after they rebelled against Khartoum, complaining of marginalisation.\n<\/p>\n
\n The SPLM-N rose up in 2011 for similar reasons.\n<\/p>\n
\n Khartoum unleashed troops, bomber jets, helicopter gunships and militia to try to crush the insurgencies, with the International Criminal Court indicting Bashir for alleged war crimes in the Darfur conflict.\n<\/p>\n
\n The talks in Addis Ababa were the 10th round between the SPLM-N and Khartoum, and Darfuri rebels held simultaneous talks with a second government delegation.\n<\/p>\n
\n The negotiations ended with the SPLM-N and government accusing each other of plotting to reinforce their positions in South Kordofan and Blue Nile under cover of a humanitarian ceasefire.\n<\/p>\n
\n For the past two years, the government has mounted offensives in the dry season, which starts in November.\n<\/p>\n
\n The talks' failure means another is likely but a decisive victory still seems far off.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's going to inflict a lot of human suffering but it will not end the insurgency,\" said Magdi al-Gizouli, an independent political analyst.\n<\/p>\n
\n In April, government-allied militia ambushed the Justice and Equality Movement's forces in Darfur, capturing and destroying dozens of their vehicles in a major defeat.\n<\/p>\n
\n Sudan's military says Darfuri rebels now occupy just pockets of land, notably the hilly Jebel Marra area in the centre of the region.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The Sudanese Armed Forces will try to contain the SPLM-N as far as possible just like the situation in Darfur, where you have pockets in Jebel Marra that don't threaten anything,\" Gizouli said.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Difficult terrain -\n<\/p>\n
\n In previous offensives, the military has pounded rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile with artillery, jet bombers as well as ground attacks with militia and troops.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the hilly Nuba Mountains area of South Kordofan is still a major obstacle for the Khartoum regime.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The terrain is difficult. It doesn't lend itself to fighting, it's very mountainous,\" said a source in Khartoum familiar with the conflict.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"I think the SPLA-N has taken advantage of the rainy season to reinforce its positions,\" the source said on condition of anonymity.\n<\/p>\n
\n For civilians in rebel-controlled areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile that the government denies aid organisations access to, renewed fighting will inflict further misery.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nearly 150,000 children in South Kordofan and Blue Nile have not been received vaccinations because of a lack of access, with 500,000 people displaced in the two states, the United Nations says.\n<\/p>\n
\n Fighting in Darfur has left another 2.5 million displaced in the western region, with at least 300,000 dead, according to the UN.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The civilian population is captive to the fighting armies,\" Gizouli said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Government forces and rebels in Sudan's war-torn border regions say they are preparing for another bout of fighting after the latest talks in Addis Ababa failed to reach a deal. The African Union-mediated talks ended last month without a temporary ceasefire being agreed in Darfur, mired in conflict since 2003, and South Kordofan and Blue […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-25038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n