The mobilization began around June 7, when pro-Khartoum militia forces in Bahr el-Ghazal province and elsewhere in south Sudan received orders to begin assembling troops. On June 10 Sudanese President Omar Beshir ordered a full military mobilization. Why? SPLA successes in Bahr el-Ghazal. The mobilization followed Beshirs claims that the SPLA intended to create its own oil state in the south, with Bahr el-Ghazal province as the new states center. The mobilization order called for all soldiers and reservists to report for duty. The SPLA victory at Raga (se earlier Strategypage reports) in Bahr el-Ghazal appears to have shaken Khartoum. New reports have increased the Sudanese Armys loss to 800 troops either killed or captured at Raga. Other Middle Eastern news sources claim that Sudan has approached Egypt and Libya, asking for military assistance in halting the SPLA offensive.