KHARTOUM - A total of 17 Chinese workers have been transferred to a safe place by the Sudanese army after their camp was attacked by rebels, while another 29 Chinese were still held by the abductors, the Chinese Embassy to Sudan said Monday.

"When the rebels attacked the camp of the Chinese company near Al-Abbasiya town in South Kordofan, there were 47 Chinese workers. 29 of them were abducted and 18 fled to neighboring areas," an official at the Chinese embassy told Xinhua.

"The Sudanese army found 17 Chinese workers and transported them to a safe area. Efforts are underway in search for the other one worker," he added.

A group of Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) on Saturday attacked a site of a Chinese company building a road in the South Kordofan state.

A spokesman of the SPLA/northern sector said Sunday that the movement was holding 29 Chinese nationals working at the site.

"Armed clashes took place between our forces and the Sudanese army at an area near Al-Abbasiya Tagali town in South Kordofan. We have controlled the area and 29 Chinese were held," Arno Taloudy, the SPLA spokesman, told Xinhua by phone from Nairobi.

"The Chinese workers have been transported to a safe area and they are in good health and in safe hands," he added.

South Kordofan, located on the Sudan-South Sudan border, has been witnessing armed clashes between the Sudanese army and the SPLA's northern sector since June 2011.