Renewed Shelling of S. Kordofan Capital, Say Sudan Rebels

Sudanese rebels have shelled the capital of South Kordofan state for the second time this week, they said on Wednesday, but it was not immediately clear if there were casualties or damage.

"There is some shelling inside Kadugli. It was yesterday evening," Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), told AFP.

"If they (the army) bomb our locations, then we will respond immediately," he added.

Sudan's army spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.

A rare barrage against the government-held capital on Monday killed six women and children, Governor Ahmed Haroun was quoted by official media as saying earlier.

The United Nations condemned Monday's attack, which it called indiscriminate and reprehensible. One shell landed in the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) compound but failed to explode.

But Lodi said the insurgents' artillery fire was self-defense in the face of government shelling and aerial bombardment of rebel positions, which continued Tuesday and Wednesday.

"Our target is military movements and compounds," he said.

The Kadugli shelling has coincided with talks there between the ruling National Congress Party and others about how to end the war which the U.N. says has displaced or severely affected hundreds of thousands of people.

The army has accused rebels of trying to disrupt the meeting but Lodi said there was no connection.

Ethnic minority insurgents from the SPLM-N fought alongside rebels from southern Sudan who waged a 22-year civil war which ended in a 2005 peace deal leading to South Sudan's independence last year.

Fighting erupted in South Kordofan the month before South Sudan separated.

The shelling comes after Sudan and South Sudan in late September signed deals on security and cooperation that they hailed as ending their countries' conflict.

The neighbors fought along their undemarcated frontier in March and April, sparking fears of wider war and leading to a U.N. Security Council resolution ordering a ceasefire and the settlement of unresolved issues, under African Union mediation.

Among the deals is agreement on a demilitarized border buffer zone designed to cut support for SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

Khartoum accuses Juba of backing those insurgents, and the South in turn says Sudan has armed rebels in its territory.