127 prisoners releases by Sudanese rebel group

Most of those freed by SPLM-N described by
army as troops captured in fighting in Blue Nile
and South Kordofan states.

A Sudanese rebel group has freed 127 people it had captured
in fighting with government forces, according to the country's
army.

Those released by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-
North (SPLM-N) included 109 soldiers and 18 civilians,
Brigadier Ahmed Khalifa al-Shami, the army spokesman, said
in a statement on Sunday.

"The Sudanese army recognises this as a positive step
towards achieving peace in the country."

The SPLM-N had captured the prisoners in Blue Nile and
South Kordofan states, where the group has been fighting
Sudanese government forces for years.

It was not clear how long the prisoners spent in captivity.

In 2011, South Sudan gained independence from Sudan
following a 2005 peace deal that ended Africa's longest-

running civil war.


Excluded from deal

After a referendum, in which an overwhelming majority of
South Sudanese voted to secede, Africa's newest country
came into being, the first since Eritrea split from Ethiopia in
1993.
But South Kordofan and Blue Nile, whose residents
predominantly wanted to become citizens of the new
 nation, were excluded from the deal.

The SPLM-N, the northern affiliate of SPLM in South 
Sudan, consequently took up arms against the Sudanese 
government of President Omar al-Bashir , and fighting has continued on and off ever since.

Fighting in the two areas, and in Darfur , have left tens of
thousands of people dead and displaced millions.

Khartoum announced a unilateral ceasefire in June 2016 
in all three conflict zones, which it extended by six months in
January.

UN says that for years Blue Nile and South Kordofan have
been no-go areas for aid officials, leaving thousands of
people without access to humanitarian relief.