REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KADOGLI -- Sudan's armed forces have recaptured a key rebel stronghold in the South Kordofan state, which can end the rebels' rocket bombardment from there on state capital Kadogli, Sudanese officials said on Tuesday.

According to South Kordofan State Governor, Adam al-Faki, the Sudanese armed forces recaptured the Daldako area which was previously used by the rebel militias to pour Katyusha rockets over Kadogli.

"Liberation of Daldako area makes Kadogli town safe against the bombardment of the rebels of the SPLM/northern sector," the governor said on Tuesday, referring to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement for the North (SPLM-North).

Bands of disaffected Sudanese have joined rebel militias like SPLM-North in fighting the central government that they accuse of marginalizing them. For around three years the rebels have managed to fortify their bases around the state's capital, despite air strikes by the Sudanese army.

The latest army advancement may indicate that the rebels are losing ground. The governor said that much of South Kordofan State is now under secure military control.

"About 95 percent of the eastern area is completely free from the rebels who are now become at limited pockets. There is also a great advancement at the western area where the rebels have been driven out of many areas such as Abu Zabadm Katala and Abu Jibaiha, " Faki said, adding they are "seeking to corner the rebellion at few pockets."

The commander who led the army's operation in Daldako said that recapturing the area is of "strategic importance as it was an (eastern) military base from which the rebels kept on bombarding the civilians inside Kadogli." He added that Daldako had been a resource of military supplies for the rebel group.

The victory would enable the army to enter other strongholds of the SPLM-North, including Kauda town which had been a focal point for Sudanese rebel group unity since the rebellion erupted in June 2011, the commander said.

The SPLM-North has been fighting the Sudanese army in Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas since 2011, alleging government marginalization and abuse.

Sudan's government has vowed to end all armed uprisings. Last November, Sudan's Defense Minister Abdul-Rahim Mohamed Hussein declared that the military would embark upon campaigns to end all armed rebellion in Sudan's Darfur region, the Blue Nile area and South Kordofan State on the border with South Sudan.

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