Kaya, Sudan, Friday

A fresh offensive by Sudan's government army against southern rebels

along the Ugandan border threatens to cut relief supply routes to huge

areas affected by famine, churchmen and aid workers said.

Guerrillas of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in the

frontier town of Kaya said they had been battling to drive back an

advancing force of 5000 government troops for the last week.

Backed by Antonov bombers and MiG fighter planes, government troops

overran the village of Morobo nine miles north of Kaya.

The fresh fighting effectively destroys a truce declared in March to

allow foreign relief groups to get food to tens of thousands of needy

civilians -- the main victims of a civil war which started in 1983.

''Heavy fighting is still

taking place in Morobo. Our intention is to throw the government

forces out of the town,'' SPLA commander Pitia Diliga told reporters who

visited Kaya.

Kaya and Morobo lie along a muddy track that is nevertheless a

strategic artery for relief supplies trucked in from Uganda to the

entire Western Equatoria province, much of which is still held by the

SPLA.

''The government aim is to seal off the border with Uganda,'' said

Kaya's Anglican Bishop Seme Solomona, who fled along with more than

25,000 refugees into Uganda last week.

''Should that happen, many people will starve to death ,'' said Father

Peter Dada, a Catholic priest also from Kaya.

Relief workers estimate that about 500,000 people have died in the war

-- most of them civilians who have fallen victim to starvation -- out of

the south's population of 4,500,000.

who moved out on SPLA orders, took their few belongings and trekked

through thick bush south to the Ugandan town of Arua.

They are now camped in two transit centres in Arua, where United

Nations and other relief groups are distributing food. The Ugandan

authorities have set aside land for them to farm, suggesting they expect

the refugees to stay for some time.

Political analysts expect the government force to swing eastwards and

move on the town of Kajo Kaji if they capture Kaya. If they take Kajo

Kaji, they can move on the frontier town of Nimule which lies on the

eastern banks of the Nile, the last proper supply route for the SPLA and

civilians on the rebel side.

The black and mainly Christian SPLA, which for 10 years has fought the

Arabised Muslim north, split along tribal lines two years ago.

''The split has left SPLA forces weak and strengthened the government

side,'' said Bishop Solomona. -- Reuter.