Rebels in Sudan's oil-producing border state of South Kordofan said on Sunday they were holding Chinese workers for their own safety after a battle with the Sudanese army. The army has been fighting rebels of the SPLM-N in South Kordofan bordering newly independent South Sudan since June. Fighting spread to the northern Blue Nile state in September.
"We are holding 29 Chinese workers after a battle with the army yesterday," a spokesman for the SPLM-N said. "They are in good health. We are holding them for their own safety because the army was trying to strike again."
The army said rebels had attacked the compound of a Chinese construction company operating in the area between the towns of Abbasiya and Rashad in the north of the state and captured 70 civilians.
"Most of them are Chinese. They (the rebels) are targeting civilians," said army spokesman Sawarmi Khalid Saad. He said there had been no battle in the area and the army was now trying to rescue the civilians.
China's foreign ministry urged Sudan to guarantee the safety of Chinese personnel during the search and rescue process, according to a statement released in Beijing. South Kordofan is the main oil-producing state in Sudan, while Blue Nile is rich in minerals such as chrome.