---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 7:47 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Confirmed reports of Sudan bombing South Sudan To: Group <[email protected]>
Sudan's bombing of its neighbour South Sudan in two different areas along the border (Upper Nile and Unity State - NB Pariang County is in Unity State, not Upper Nile as wrongly reported by AFP in article 4 below) marks an escalation of Khartoum's military adventurism, attacking across an international border. The report in article 1, below, of militia activity in Kurmuk and Kweik fits an unconfirmed rumour that I heard today that Khartoum has warned its South Sudanese militia that they had better start showing some results if they want to continue getting support from Sudan. John BEGIN 1. From a Church source in Sudan, 10/11/11: "We were informed that Guffa place in Mabaan area is being bombed by SAF. In Bunj town itself there are reports of IDPs coming from the area of Kurmuk. The President of the Republic is quoted to have said that they will only stop at Yabus area inside South Sudan after the capture of Kurmuk. Yabus area is famous for gold and bamboo. George Athor is being rumoured of having assisted the SAF take over of Kurmuk. Fighting between a militia group associated with SPLA/M DC and the SPLA/M is taking place in Kweik. The fighting appear to have started last night for reasons unknown... but... things were nornal in Wad Akona just 20Km south." END1 2. From a Church source in Upper Nile State, South Sudan, 09/11/11, noon: "Because of deteriorating security conditions, six of our [medical] team members from Doro base have been flown out of Doro this morning... The conflict in Blue Nile state is threatening to spill over into Upper Nile. As of last night, 8 November, the sights and sounds of war have come very close. What caused this decision to extract this first wave of Doro team members was a serious and deliberate aerial bombing of New Guffa 30km north of Boing (Guffa is in South Sudan, Upper Nile state). Many Southern Sudanese have been wounded as a result of the bombing. There have been several indications of insecurity, but this direct attack on Upper Nile is a clear sign the conflict could be approaching the Doro area." [NB: Boing and Bunj (article 1, above) are different spellings of the same place, sometimes also referred to as Mabaan town. Doro is the medical facility on the outskirts of Bunj - John] END2 3. Plane bombs South Sudan refugee camp -witness Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:58pm GMT By Hereward Holland YIDA CAMP, South Sudan Nov 10 (Reuters) - A refugee camp in South Sudan's Unity state was the target of an air strike on Thursday, less than 50 km (30 miles) from the border with Sudan, South Sudan officials and witnesses said. Violence along the poorly defined border since South Sudan's independence in July has raised tensions between the former civil war foes. They have accused one another of backing rebel groups on their sides of the border. A Reuters correspondent heard a large explosion in the Yida refugee camp, then saw a crater about two metres (6.6 feet) wide, an unexploded bomb wedged in the side of a school building and a white aircraft flying north. Witnesses said there were three further explosions at 3 p.m. (1200 GMT). A South Sudanese official accused Khartoum of carrying out the bombing. Sudan's army denied the charge. There were no immediate reports of any casualties. South Sudan split off into a separate country in July after voting overwhelmingly for secession in a January referendum, the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war between north and south. Taban Deng, governor of Unity state, accused Khartoum of carrying out the attack. "These people (Khartoum) should be taken to book. They should adhere to international laws and regulations," Deng told reporters in Bentiu. "The refugees need to be safe and need to be protected. They ran away from war. They should not be pursued inside the territory of South Sudan." Al-Sawarmi Khalid, spokesman for Sudan's military, said Sudan had not bombed anywhere in South Sudan's territory. "This is not correct. We didn't bomb any camp or any place in South Sudan," he said. "South Sudan is a state in the United Nations. We respect international law, and it's impossible that we would do that." Yida is a camp of about 20,000 refugees from the Nuba mountains region of South Kordofan, a state on the north side of the border that has been affected by conflict between rebels and Sudan's army since June. (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Robert Woodward) http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFL5E7MA1L420111110?sp=true END3 4. S.Sudan accuses Khartoum of air strike on camp By Hannah McNeish (AFP) – 10/11/11 JUBA, South Sudan — Sudan carried out a deadly air strike on a refugee camp in neighbouring South Sudan on Thursday, just hours after the south's president accused Khartoum of seeking a pretext for war, officials said. "Twelve people were killed and more than 20 wounded", said Miabek Lang, commissioner of Pariang County in Upper Nile state [sic] where the attack took place. "Around 2:45 pm (1145 GMT), the Sudan Armed Forces targeted Yida town, where the Nuba refugees [from South Kordofan] are and IDPs (internally displaced persons) from Jau [on the border], as well as civilians," Lang said. There was no immediate confirmation of the casualty toll from UN or other sources. "There are reports that we are receiving on the ground in Yida that bombs have been dropped," said Lise Grande, UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan. "We are extremely concerned about the more than 20,000 refugees who have sought safety in Yida, fleeing the fighting in South Kordofan," Grande said. "We are trying to ascertain the facts and based on these, we will move as quickly as possible to provide all necessary humanitarian assistance." The governor of neighbouring Unity state Taban Deng said: "The refugees and civilians have been bombed in Yida. They dropped about five to six bombs and it is an Antonov bomber." The air strike came just hours after a speech by South Sudan President Salva Kiir in which he condemned an earlier air strike in Upper Nile that killed seven civilians on Tuesday and accused Sudan of trying to drag the new country back to war. Fighting broke out in Sudan's new border state South Kordofan just weeks before South Sudan gained independence in July after decades of civil war. "They have been bombing a lot of places in Nuba [mountains in South Kordofan] and Upper Nile," Deng said. The UN Security Council was to meet later on Thursday to discuss Sudan, which lodged a complaint against South Sudan last week, accusing it of funding rebels in the border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Kiir denied the accusations on Thursday, telling reporters that they were "a prelude from Khartoum to justify their pending actions against South Sudan." The southern leader said Khartoum's accusations were "utterly baseless and they are just maliciously planned" by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to deflect from internal problems and mask his wish to reclaim the South. "Tomorrow, when Bashir invades South Sudan, then he will say yes, he took the action to revenge what was being done to him... They want to engage South Sudan in wars, meaningless wars," he said. Kiir dismissed Bashir's accusations that the South has been sending tanks and heavy artillery to rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) who fought alongside his former southern rebels during their 1983-2005 civil war with Khartoum. Kiir said his government would do all it could to resist being drawn back into conflict but would not be trampled on. "The truth of the matter that people are not talking about is that Bashir and his group believed it was a mistake on their side, to hand over this, our beautiful land called South Sudan to the infidels, and they must take it back," he said. "Despite our commitment to peaceful coexistence, we never allow someone to violate our sovereignty, whatever the conditions." John Prendergast, the head of the Enough Project human rights group supported by Hollywood star George Clooney, said: "The regime in Khartoum is attempting to provoke South Sudan into restarting a war. "The regime's endgame is to either capture South Sudan's oilfields along their common border, or achieve a stronger negotiating position on shared oil revenues and border demarcation," he said. "This provocation must be countered by the full force of the international community, or else a massive war could unfold." Washington on Wednesday condemned what it called "provocative" bombing by the Sudanese armed forces near the border with South Sudan, and demanded a halt to such strikes. Such "indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilian targets always is unacceptable and unjustified," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jHHkGNImGr-pbQ8v64Q1EnSmHx3w?docId=CNG.db472cd6f1998e33ce774e5ad456d70f.9a1 END4 5. Sudan Bombs South Sudanese Refugee Camp, Reports Say JASON STRAZIUSO 11/10/11 10:25 AM ET Huffington Post NAIROBI, Kenya — Military aircraft from Sudan crossed the new international border with South Sudan and dropped bombs Thursday in and around a camp filled with refugees fleeing violence in the north, officials said. At least 12 people were killed. The violence in and near the Yida refugee camp, located 10 miles (15 kilometers) south of the border, came one day after bombings were reported in another region of South Sudan, an attack that provoked strong condemnation from the U.S. State Department. The president of South Sudan, which became the world's newest country only four months ago, said he fears the Khartoum-based government intends to invade the south soon. "Whatever allegations Khartoum labels against the Republic of South Sudan are baseless, but intended to justify his pending invasion of the south," President Salva Kiir said. He later added: "We are committed to peaceful resolutions to any conflict but we will never allow our sovereignty to be violated by anybody." The violence is especially troubling given the history between the two sides: The black African tribes of South Sudan and the mainly Arab north battled two civil wars over more than five decades, and some 2 million died in the latest war, from 1983-2005. A peace deal ended the war and South Sudan became its own country in July after a successful independence referendum. But there have been lingering disputes over border demarcation and oil-sharing revenues. Miabek Lang, the commissioner of Pariang County in South Sudan's Unity State, said 12 people were killed and 20 were wounded in Thursday's bombing, and that the death toll could rise. Jonathan Hutson, a spokesman for the U.S. advocacy group the Enough Project, said aid workers inside the Yida refugee camp said at least one bomb landed in the camp, and three or four fell outside it. The aid workers or their groups could not be named for security reasons, Hutson said. Hutson said at least 15,000 refugees who fled violence in Sudan are living in the Yida camp. They walked at least seven days to reach the camp, he said. The Wednesday bombings in Upper Nile state sparked condemnation from the U.S. State Department, which said the "unacceptable and unjustified" attacks increase the potential of conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. South Sudan's president said Thursday that seven people were killed in those bombings. John Prendergast, the co-founder of the Enough Project, said the regime in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, is attempting to provoke South Sudan into restarting a war. "The regime's end game is to either capture South Sudan's oil fields along their common border, or achieve a stronger negotiating position on shared oil revenues and border demarcation," Prendergast said. "This provocation must be countered by the full force of the international community, or else a massive war could unfold." South Sudan's oil reserves must be pumped through pipelines that run through Sudan. Splitting the oil revenues has long been a major sticking point between the two sides. Another major issue is the demarcation of the border. Though the countries are now separate an official border has not yet been laid down. Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro-South Sudan groups in its territory. But Kiir said Thursday that the accusations from Khartoum are "smoke screens" to mask Sudan's support of armed groups fighting a proxy war against South Sudan. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/sudan-bombs-south-sudanese-refugee-camp_n_1086031.html END5 6. South Sudan’s Kiir hits back at Bashir over recent remarks November 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The president of South Sudan Salva Kiir, today lashed out at his northern counterpart Omer Hassan al-Bashir, accusing him of seeking to deflect away from his own internal problems by blaming other parties for it. In remarks delivered at the graduation ceremony of the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) in Eastern Equatoria state, Kiir called on Bashir to sit down with his own people in order to resolve the flaring conflicts in Sudan. The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) website also quoted Kiir as dismissing Bashir’s allegations that the SPLA is providing support to rebels fighting Khartoum in the border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Kiir described Bashir’s assertions as a form of escape from his own internal political problems adding that the Sudanese leader is keeping his soldiers away in the battle fields so that they do not turn against him. Last Sunday, Bashir warned South Sudan that his country is running out of patience and that he is prepared to go to war. He claimed that his Khartoum was in possession of evidences indicating that the south was preparing to launch a war against the Sudanese Army (SAF), threatening that his country would respond in kind. The SAF are battling fighters from the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Khartoum accused the SPLM-N of seeking a regime change and attempting to create ’a second Benghazi’ in reference to the Libyan coastal city which instigated the rebellion against the 41-year-long rule of Muammar Gaddafi. But the SPLM-N claimed that it was forced to defend itself in face of attempts by SAF to forcibly disarm their fighters. This month, Sudan lodged its second complaint in 2011 with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) detailing accounts corroborating its assertions that South Sudan is providing military support to the anti-government rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan. South Sudan became an independent nation in July and remarks from leaders in Khartoum and Juba at the time promised cordial and constructive relations between the two neighbours. Kiir also disclosed today that at least seven people were killed in Upper Nile state as a result of aerial bombardment by SAF. The United States issued a condemnation of the purported attack. "The United States strongly condemns in the strongest possible terms the aerial bombardment by the Sudan Armed Forces that occurred near the international border between Sudan and South Sudan, including reportedly the South Sudanese towns of Yafta and Bew Quaffa," said Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman. Such "indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilian targets always is unacceptable and unjustified," Toner stressed. "The provocative aerial bombardments near the border increase the potential of direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan," he added. "This attack only further emphasises the need for an immediate halt to indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas by the Sudan Armed Forces, and a resolution to the conflict through a resumption of political talks," he said. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/South-Sudan-s-Kiir-hits-back-at,40681 END6 7. South Sudan's leader accuses Khartoum of looking for ‘meaningless wars’ Salva Kiir accuses Sudan of using accusations that his government is supporting border rebels to draw south Sudan back into ‘meaningless wars’. Middle East Online - First Published: 2011-11-10 By Hannah McNeish – JUBA ‘Sudan accusations are prelude to justify pending actions’ South Sudan President Salva Kiir accused Sudan on Thursday of using accusations that his government is supporting border rebels to justify "pending action" to try and draw the newly-independent nation back into "meaningless wars". Kiir said accusations that the South is funding or providing rear-bases for rebels in war-torn Blue Nile and South Kordofan states were "utterly baseless and they are just maliciously planned" by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to deflect from internal problems and mask his wish to reclaim the South. "We do not have anything to do with them militarily or politically. All these accusations are actually a prelude from Khartoum to justify their pending actions against South Sudan," Kiir told reporters. "Tomorrow, when Bashir invades South Sudan, then he will say yes, he took the action to revenge what was being done to him... They want to engage South Sudan in wars, meaningless wars." Kiir dismissed Bashir's accusations that the South has been sending tanks and heavy artillery to South Kordofan, saying there were no roads and the route was impassable. He said rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) who fought alongside Kiir's former southern rebels during their 1983-2005 civil war with Khartoum were "the best equipped as they were the frontline to the north". "When we voted for independence we did not withdraw these guns from South Kordofan and Blue Nile", but did withdraw all military commanders, he said. Kiir did not respond to questions on when he and Bashir would next meet to negotiate on the outstanding issues between north and south, such as how to share oil revenues, demarcate borders and decide on the fate of the contested Abyei district, which Sudanese troops occupied in May. "The intentions of Sudan are to run away from the real issues that we need to resolve," and to blame the South for rising economic and political woes in the north, Kiir said. He accused his counterpart of sending rebels across the border to South Sudan's oil-rich northern states "to capture the oil fields" and topple his government which is 98 percent reliant on their revenues. Kiir said his government would do all it could to resist being drawn back into conflict but would not be trampled on. "The truth of the matter that people are not talking about is that Bashir and his group believed it was a mistake on their side, to hand over this, our beautiful land called South Sudan to the infidels, and they must take it back," he said. "Despite our commitment to peaceful coexistence, we never allow someone to violate our sovereignty, whatever the conditions." Kiir said Khartoum had been fighting a proxy war with the south since 2006, and condemned the latest Sudanese air strikes in the border region on Tuesday, when Khartoum reportedly bombed Gaffa, in Upper Nile state, killing seven civilians. "It is not the first time that Bashir and his air force have done this to South Sudan," since the 2005 peace deal that paved the way for its independence in July, Kiir said, citing repeated bombings in Northern and Western Bahr al-Ghazal states against alleged rear-bases of Darfur rebels. Kiir said South Sudan would continue to push for talks to resolve its differences with the north, despite Khartoum's decision to take its allegations of southern support for the SPLM-N to the UN Security Council last week. "Let us not take our dirty laundry to be washed in front of everybody. Let us wash them in our houses," the southern leader said. He said he hoped the international community would protect South Sudanese still living in the north from any reprisals by the Khartoum regime. http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=48950 END7 8. Aerial Bombardment Along Border by Sudan Armed Forces Press Statement Mark C. Toner Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson, US Department of State Washington, DC November 9, 2011 The United States strongly condemns in the strongest possible terms the aerial bombardment by the Sudan Armed Forces that occurred near the international border between Sudan and South Sudan, including reportedly the South Sudanese towns of Yafta and Bew Quaffa. Indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilian targets always is unacceptable and unjustified. The provocative aerial bombardments near the border increase the potential of direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan. This attack only further emphasizes the need for an immediate halt to indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas by the Sudan Armed Forces, and a resolution to the conflict through a resumption of political talks between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Northern Sector. We urge both sides to fully commit to the African Union High Level Implementation Panel talks facilitated by Thabo Mbeki. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/11/176921.htm END8 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan/South Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. 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