KAUDA – A commander from a faction opposed to SPLM-N leader Abdelaziz al-Hilu denied that the movement’s forces had taken control of Kauda in South Kordofan, saying his fighters remained inside the town and nearby Luwairi area despite recent clashes.

Badawi Abdelrahman, a leader in the breakaway forces, said his group had declared a unilateral ceasefire and would not fire in any direction unless attacked by SPLM-N forces.

He said he was currently in Kauda and that his fighters would reorganize and return to their positions. Badawi also said his group was ready to deal with any neutral committee formed through the leadership of the Tasis government, but rejected what he described as a committee including figures aligned with the SPLM-N leadership.

His remarks came after SPLM-N chairman and SPLA-N commander-in-chief Abdelaziz Adam al-Hilu welcomed an initiative by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, to stop fighting in Heiban County.

Al-Hilu ordered all parties to immediately halt fighting and hostile actions, including media attacks, hate speech and incitement. His decision called for space to be given to the initiative to proceed along social, humanitarian and military tracks, and tasked the SPLA-N chief of staff and the movement’s relevant bodies with implementing the order.

The dispute over Kauda comes amid months of tension in SPLM-N-controlled areas of the Nuba Mountains, where a local conflict involving the movement, breakaway fighters and members of the Atoro community has escalated into armed confrontations, displacement and mutual accusations of abuses.

In a related statement, Al-Nour Saleh Al-Badil, representative of the governor of the Nuba Mountains region, said describing the events in Heiban as a conflict between the Atoro tribe and the SPLA-N was “wrong.”

Speaking at a workshop on the role of religious leaders and native administration in peacebuilding, Al-Badil said the SPLA-N’s movements were aimed, according to the movement’s account, at questioning nine officers accused of violations and failure to comply with leadership directives.

He said the SPLM-N was not targeting the Atoro tribe, describing it as an authentic component of the Nuba Mountains. He argued that the events were linked to individuals within the SPLA-N rather than the community as a whole, and warned that the crisis was targeting the movement’s “New Sudan” project.

The SPLM-N has previously said the roots of the crisis date back to long-running disputes over land ownership and boundary demarcation. It says a native administration conference held in Heiban in 2022 issued recommendations on border demarcation, which some Atoro groups later rejected. The movement has also accused some members of the community of joining an armed mutiny and targeting its offices.

Atoro community leaders reject the SPLM-N’s account. They accuse figures within the movement of trying to impose new arrangements on tribal lands by force, linking the dispute to alleged attempts to control gold-rich areas and open the way for mining operations. Those claims have not been independently verified.

The dispute has intensified in recent months into deadly clashes, with reports of killings, injuries, village burnings, looting of homes and markets, and arrests of Atoro community members, including humanitarian workers.

Recent reports said about 17,340 people had fled to Anmabong County alone, while thousands more were displaced from Kauda, Heiban and surrounding areas. Sudan Now could not independently verify the displacement figures or the full scale of casualties and damage.

The latest developments, including Al-Hilu’s ceasefire order and the breakaway group’s denial that the SPLM-N controls Kauda, show that the crisis remains unresolved and that disputes over authority, land, security and local governance continue to threaten civilians in the Nuba Mountains.