Sudanese rebels in the South Kordofan state said Sunday that they captured 29 Chinese workers. The workers were allegedly captured after a battle with government forces. The workers said, however, that they were not kidnapped and are not hostages.

“We are holding them for their own safety because the Army was trying to strike again," a spokesman for the SPLM-N rebels told The Daily Beast.

Nine members of the Sudan Armed Forces are also being held, according to Agence France-Presse.

They were captured after rebels destroyed a Sudanese military convoy Saturday. The convoy was traveling between Rashad and Al-Abbasiya in the northeast of the province. The area has been at war since June.

The government is fighting ethnic minority insurgents. The insurgents were once allied to the former rebel who now rule South Sudan. The South gained independence from Khartoum last July.

The Chinese who are being held were working on construction in the area. China is a major military supplier to the regime and the largest buyer of Sudanese oil, according to the AFP.

 

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