Khartoum bombs Unity State, South Sudan alleges
Article
Comments (82)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
By Bonifacio Taban Kuich
May 8, 2012 (BENTIU) - South Sudan’s army (SPLA) has accused the
Sudanese government of bombing oil-rich Unity State on Friday and
Saturday in violation of a UN Security Council on May 2 calling for a
cessation of hostilities.
JPEG - 34.9 kb
Brigadier General Gabriel Puok Wunoah at Panakuach, Unity State, South
Sudan. May 7, 2012 (ST)
The UN’s most powerful decision-making body voted last week to endorse
the African Union Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) proposal document
for the two Sudans to resolve their outstanding issues through
peaceful negotiations.
If either side failed to cease hostilities with two days, return to
negotiations with two weeks and sign a deal on key issues with three
months the UNSC resolution threatened non-military sanctions under
Article 41 of the UN Charter, as well as possible "additional
measures".
Both sides were also ordered to withdraw their forces from disputed
border regions, including Abyei, within a week in order to prepare for
the establishment of a demilitarised border zone.
However, on Saturday SPLA Brigadier General Gabriel Puok Wunoah
accused the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) of failing to respect the
ceasefire, alleging that on May 4 and 5 around eight bombs were
dropped on their militarily base in South Sudan by Sudanese Antenov’s
in Panakuach, Unity State.
JPEG - 32 kb
Rubkotna Commissioner William Gatjang assesing the crator of what
South Sudan’s says was an Antenov bomb dropped by the Sudan Armed
Forces. May 7, 2012 (ST)
This is not the first time since the resolution that Juba and Khartoum
have accused each other of breaching the resolution. On May 3 the
spokesperson for South Sudan’s army, Philip Aguer, said Sudanese
warplanes dropped six bombs on Panakuach as well as carrying out
another attack involving aerial bombardment and long-range artillery
targeting another army base about 25 km away.
Sudan has said it is committed to implementing the resolution but says
that Juba’s continued backing of the SPLA-North, a rebel group
operating in South Kordofan and Blue Nile violates the resolution,
which called for both sides to: "Cease the harbouring of, or support
to, rebel groups against the other State".
South Sudan denies assisting the SPLA-North, which was, before South
Sudan seceded from Sudan, part of the former rebel movement.
The spokesman of Sudan’s foreign ministry, Al-Obayd Adam Marawih, has
also said that South Sudan’s occupation of the disputed areas of Kafia
Kingi and Kafia Dabi are further violations of the UNSC resolution.
Resolution 2046 (2012) also calls for both sides to pull out of the
disputed Abyei area within two weeks. South Sudan says it has almost
completed the withdrawal of it’s forces.
Wunoah, said Saturday that - contrary to SAF’s claims - the SPLA
withdrew from the disputed area of Heglig due to pressure from the
international community not due to a military assault.
He urged the SPLM government in Juba to appeal for international
pressure on Khartoum to adhere to the UNSC resolution and stop it’s
bombing of South Sudan. The SPLA Brigadier General said that if the
Sudanese government continued its aggression it should not be
surprised if the SPLA retook control of Heglig.
The SPLA held Heglig town and the surrounding oil fields from April
10-20 in response to, what it says were, ground and air attacks being
launched from the area.
William Gatjang Gieng commissioner of Rubkotna County who assessed the
recent bombardments in Lalop Payam [district] said that a woman had
been hit in the leg by fragments of one of the bombs.
Nyachieng Nguot Teny a 20-year-old woman with a seven-month-old-child
Dak Tab, said that the SAF’s bombings were clearly targeting the
civilian population. She appealed for the UN and African Union to
bring the two parties back to the negotiating table in Addis Ababa.
JPEG - 2.9 Mb
Nyachieng Nguot Teny in Bentiu Hospital, Unity State. May 8, 2012 (ST)
Gieng said that Khartoum government is deliberately terrorising the
citizens of South Sudan and accused the international community and
the African Union of keeping silent over the recent attack on
civilians in Rubkotna County.
“Lalop is the merely civilian villages, I can’t understand why the
Sudanese government [are] bombing them," he said.
He said that the world should know that while they are talking about
negotiations Khartoum needs to be pressurised into stopping its
bombing. Khartoum denies bombing South Sudanese territory.
The same world leaders that called for South Sudan to withdraw from
Heglig should also put the same pressure on Sudan’s president Omar
Al-Bashir to stop bombing South Sudan, the commissioner said.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" 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/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
