Sudan army claims SPLA launched deadly attack in Abyei
* Article
* Comments (35)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
*
*
*
*
May 19, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese army accused the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA) of attacking its troops in the North-South
border region of Abyei leading to heavy military casualties within its
ranks.
JPEG - 47.9 kb
Personnel from the northern army’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)
component of the Joint Integrated Units (JIU) celebrate on the barge
as they prepare to leave for northern Sudan, in Juba in this picture
taken April 7, 2011 and released by UNMIS April 12, 2011 (Reuters)
In a statement issued late Thursday, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) said
that the SPLA ambushed its troops that were part of the Joint
Integrated Units (JIU) who were being escorted by peacekeepers from
the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS).
SAF spokesperson Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad who read the statement on
Sudan TV said the attack took place when their forces were withdrawing
from Abyei towards Goli in the north of the area. He said that pulling
SAF units was a decision they took in consultation with UNMIS
leadership to prevent "friction" with surrounding SPLA units.
According to the statement, Sudanese troops were on their way out of
the disputed region boarding UN vehicles and accompanied by
peacekeepers when they came under fire from the Southern army around
seven kilometers from Abyei. The SPLA allegedly used heavy weaponry
leading to "significant losses" that are still being determined with a
number of soldiers remaining missing.
SAF said that this attack "is a clear aggression and a violation of
the [2005] Comprehensive Peace Agreement by the SPLA against the armed
forces and the United Nation. It added that UN observers testified to
this incident.
"The armed forces declare that it reserves its full right to respond
to this aggression in the right time and place".
An UNMIS spokesperson confirmed the attack to Reuters but said that
the identity of the assailants could not be determined. He added that
peacekeepers had escorted two companies of the Sudanese army as part
of an agreement between north and south to withdraw all unauthorized
forces from both sides beyond a joint force.
The North and South signed a security accord in the South Kordofan
capital city of Kadugli last January to withdraw from Abyei except the
special Joint Integrated Units (JIUs) of Northern and Southern
personnel, both army and police, alongside UN peacekeepers.
Deadly fighting and recriminations have flared since January, when the
region had been due to vote on whether to join the North or the South,
alongside a referendum in the south that delivered a landslide for
secession.
But the vote in Abyei was called off when the North and South failed
to agree on the criteria that would determine the eligibility of
voters.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to start a
visit to Sudan on Saturday that would include a stop in South Kordofan
and Abyei.
The plan has been marred with a row between the UNSC and Sudan on
whether the delegation would meet with South Kordofan governor Ahmed
Haroun who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in
connection with alleged war crimes he committed in Sudan’s western
region of Darfur while he was the state minister for interior.
Haroun was declared a winner this month in the elections for governor
in the state that were described by the Carter Center as “generally
peaceful and credible". The SPLM has said that it will not recognize
the results accusing the National Congress Party (NCP) of rigging the
vote.
The UN Secretary General spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters
today in New York that the UNSC does not plan on meeting Haroun.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD
info" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
