The Sudanese government (Khartoum)claimed its forces had driven an SPLA faction from the town of Qessan (near the Ethiopian border). The SPLA had controlled the area since 1997. The government report claimed Sudan Army troops captured a large quantity of ammo and several vehicles. With the growing Sudan-Ethiopia political rapprochement, it follows that the Sudanese Army would take the opportunity to try and clean up rebel resistance along the Ethiopian border.