Sudan blames South for child soldiers

Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has condemned governments in South Sudan and Uganda for allegedly recruiting more than 3,000 children as soldiers in their military forces. "These children were kidnapped by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Kordofan,” the NCP claimed, inviting the United Nations and International Red Cross to intervene immediately to stop further violations. Party secretary Adel Awad Suleiman revealed that the Sudanese government had registered formal protests at the UN. The South Sudanese government has meanwhile denied any involvement in the ongoing conflict in South Kordofan. Army spokesman Philip Aqoir told Arabstoday: “We have nothing to do with what is happening in South Kordofan. Khartoum knows that the conflict there happened as a result of its positions on issues concerning the state, secession and peace deals signed in 2005.” South Kordofan, as well as the Blue Nile region, is witnessing a continuing armed conflict, which both sides blame the other for supporting.