Machar says Ugandan jet bombed S. Sudan rebel positions
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December 27, 2013 (LONDON) – South Sudan’s former vice-president Riek
Machar on Friday claimed a Ugandan-owned jet fighter bombed Sudan
People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) positions occupied by forces loyal to
him.
JPEG - 26.3 kb
A South Sudan army soldier rests in Bor town, after its recapture on
December 25, 2013 a week after the town fell to rebels loyal to rebel
leader Riek Machar.(Photo Reuters/James Akena)
Machar, in an interview with Sudan Tribune, said a Ugandan MiG-29
bombed their positions around South Sudan’s Jonglei state capital,
Bor, which they temporarily captured before it was retaken by forces
loyal to president Salva Kiir.
“Our positions around Jonglei state capital, Bor, have been bombed by
MiG [29] jet fighter of the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) at
around 2pm", Machar said.
We don’t yet know the number of casualties, he added.
The ex-deputy president condemned what he described as interference by
Ugandan forces into South Sudan’s internal affairs.
BOR CAPTURE
Machar has since condemned air raids against his forces by helicopter
gunships allegedly belonging to the Ugandan army, which reportedly
backs government forces.
Uganda, however, denies providing military support to the SPLA and
insisted it only sent troops to rescue its nationals trapped in South
Sudan’s outbreak of violence.
’’No Ugandan planes are in Bor nor are there any Ugandan planes that
have been shot,’’ Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the UPDF spokesman told
Sudan Tribune last week.
Gen. Katumba Wamala, the army chief of staff also denied his army’s
alleged involvement in the conflict, which threatens peace and
stability in South Sudan.
“Bor is a couple of miles from Juba, unless we posses supernatural
powers, we couldn’t have moved that fast”, he tweeted in response to a
journalist’s query.
MACHAR SET FOR DIALOGUE
Machar further said he was ready for regionally supported peace talks
with president Kiir, pending the release of his colleagues detained in
Juba. Two of the detainees have, however, been released while the fate
of nine others remains unknown.
President Kiir said he would talk, but without preconditions.
On Thursday, Ethiopian prime minister, Haile-mariam Desalegn and
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, held talks in Juba with president
Kiir, urging for the peace talks to begin soon.
Machar announced he had already appointed his delegation to the talks
led by the imprisoned former ruling party (SPLM) secretary general,
Pagan Amum Okiech, to end the ongoing rapidly spreading violence and
submitted the list of his delegates to the mediators.
(ST)
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