Sudan - Rebels Claim They Shot Down Military Plane - NYTimes.com Sudanese rebels said Thursday that they had ambushed a military patrol, killing 10 soldiers, and shot down a government warplane after its bombs killed two civilians in a southern region. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North said in a statement that the plane was downed Wednesday by rebels in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan State. The rebels also claimed in a separate statement that they had ambushed a military patrol on Wednesday in South Kordofan, killing 10 soldiers. The claims could not be independently verified. The rebel group has been battling the Sudanese government in South Kordofan, on the border with newly independent South Sudan, since June of last year. The fighting in the region has forced tens of thousands of people to flee to a refugee camp in South Sudan.