South Kordofan’s clashes force UN to halt operations, spark US concern
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June 8, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Fighting in Sudan’s flashpoint state of
South Kordofan has rumbled on for the third consecutive day, forcing
the UN to suspend operations and sparking both domestic and
international concerns.
JPEG - 22 kb
SPLM soldiers guard the car of SPLM governor candidate Abdul Aziz
Al-Hilu as he arrives to vote at a polling centre in Kadogli in South
Kordofan state, May 2, 2011 (Reuters)
Meanwhile, tension has been exacerbated after a local official of
north Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) was assassinated on
Monday amid reports that hundreds of people have fled fighting in the
state’s town of Kadugli.
The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on Tuesday reported that six people
were killed in Kadugli as a result of clashes between elements of
north Sudan army, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and those of the Sudan
People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the military wing of the Sudan
People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which controls South Sudan.
"There has been continued gunshots heard in the town itself today...
The fighting is between elements from the SAF and the SPLA," AFP cited
Hua Jiang, spokeswoman for the United Nations Mission in Sudan
(UNMIS), as saying.
According to the UN official, they saw six dead bodies at the
hospitals they visited, four of them were of government police and the
other two are civilians.
She also said that they saw about 3,000 people taking refuge at the
Kadugli police hospital.
Fighting in South Kordofan, one of Sudan’s heavily militarized zone,
erupted on Sunday after SAF tanks rolled into the center of Kadugli
town after unidentified gunmen reportedly attacked a police station in
the area and stole a stash of weapons.
The oil-producing state has been in a state of tension since the
result of its legislative and gubernatorial elections was declared in
May, awarding the state’s governorship to the NCP’s candidate Ahmad
Haroun over the SPLM’s candidate Abdul Aziz Adam al-Hilu whose party
rejected the results alleging fraud.
Meanwhile, sources have told Sudan Tribune that UN agencies had
suspended their operations in Kadugli and evacuated a large of number
of its staff from the city center.
The same sources also reported that unidentified gunmen had ransacked
one of the SPLM new offices in Kadugli and robbed all the furniture
therein. The sources went on to say that the city’s streets were rife
with vehicles laden with heavy weapons and that members of regular
forces were rushing to stop any person suspected of being involved in
the clashes.
Sudan Tribune’s sources also said that the chairman of the NCP’s
branch in South Kordofan’s locality of Buram, Kabti Kuku, was shot
dead by unidentified gunmen at his house on Monday evening.
The head of the NCP’s sector in South Kordofan, Jalal Taor, told
Sudan’s official news agency SUNA on Tuesday that the situation was
currently bad after all markets in Kadugli closed down and residents
stayed indoors. However, he later added that the situation improved on
Tuesday despite the fact that gunshots were heard in the morning.
South Kordofan’s fighting has also sparked concerns by Sudan’s
opposition forces and the US state department, with both calling for
immediate cessation of hostilities.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, the coalition of mainstream
opposition parties in north Sudan expressed concern over continuation
of the fighting and deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the
state.
The opposition coalition called for “immediate stoppage of the
fighting and the exercise of self-restrain by all sides.”
“All political forces call on the NCP to respond immediately to the
demand for cease-fire,” the release said.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner on Tuesday told reporters
that Washington was “deeply troubled” by reports of violence in South
Kordofan.
"Unilateral military actions that prejudice the outcome of
negotiations on future political and security arrangements for
Southern Kordofan and neighbouring Blue Nile state must cease
immediately."
(ST)
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