Armed JEM rebels strike South Kordofan

An armed group belonging to the Darfurian Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has launched attacks on the South Kordofan region, destroying the only Sudanese Telecommunications Company tower in the region. The assailants also disrupted rail travel between South Kordofan and Khartoum, seizing 15 vehicles belonging to the Finance Ministry and Humanitarian Aid Commission. State employees were briefly abducted but later released without their cars. The JEM has been active in Kordofan for years, carrying out operations and particularly targeting local oil fields. The group demands the Sudanese government share oil revenues to aid development in the region.