Chinese workers held by rebels in Sudan

A group of Chinese workers who escaped a rebel attack in the border state of South Kordofan, Sudan, have been taken to Khartoum on a chartered plane, while effort   to free 29 of their kidnapped colleagues continue, state television CCTV reported on Tuesday (January 31).  

The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North said it took the 29 workers on Saturday (January 28) for their own safety after a battle with the Sudanese army. Since June, the army has been fighting the SPLM-N in South Kordofan, which borders the newly independent country of South Sudan.

There was initially hope that some of the captured workers had been released after Sudan's state news agency said the military freed 14 of them. But on Monday (January 30), Chinese and Sudanese officials denied the report.

China said 29 of the attacked workers remained in rebel hands while one was missing and another 17 had reached safety with the help of the Sudanese army. The 17 workers who escaped the rebels arrived at the Khartoum airport on Monday (January 30) evening local time, according to CCTV.