Khartoum backed militia kill 17 civilians

KHARTOUM: Khartoum-backed militia in Sudan's South Kordofan state have killed 17 civilians, rebels said on Saturday, adding to tensions with South Sudan over a failure to implement security agreements.

The rebels accused a group of ethnic South Sudanese of ambushing a civilian lorry on Friday at Abu Nuwara, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border with South Sudan's Upper Nile state.

"They clashed with the civilians there and there's a lot of casualties," said Arnu Ngutulu Lodi, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which has been fighting government forces in South Kordofan since June 2011.

In addition to the dead, 35 people were wounded, Lodi said, adding the incident occurred in a government-controlled area.

He blamed a militia linked to Lam Akol's Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC), and threatened to retaliate.

"This is ridiculous," Akol told AFP from Khartoum. "We don't have a militia."