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| Africa Horn |
| South Sudan Army Says Still in Control of Disputed Oil Hub |
| 2012-04-15 |
| The South Sudan army claimed Saturday to still be in control of Heglig after Khartoum said it had launched an offensive to recapture the disputed oil hub. "The SPLA is controlling Heglig," front man Philip Aguer told AFP. He said that the Southern army had repelled soldiers of the Sudanese Armed Forces in the village of Kelet some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Heglig on Friday, the fourth day of the worst festivities since South Sudan's independence last year. "Yesterday, there were festivities between their patrols and SPLA. ... SPLA has destroyed two tanks belonging to the SAF," Colonel Aguer said. Aguer said the SAF bombed the border areas of Jau and Panakuach, in northern South Sudan's Unity State, on Saturday, as well as Heglig, the main producer of Khartoum's oil. No information was available early Saturday on the positions of the two armies. A Unity State government front man, reached by telephone in the state capital Bentiu, confirmed the aerial bombings near the border. "The areas in the north of Unity State are still subject to Antonovs (planes)," said the front man, Gideon Gatfan. "We don't have the updates yet between Heglig and Kelet. But all those areas they are subjected to bombing," he added. On Friday, the SAF said it had launched a counter-attack towards Heglig and were close to the town. Khartoum had vowed to react with "all means" against a three-pronged attack it said was launched by South Sudanese forces. The festivities have brought the two former foes the closest yet to a return to outright war. Some two million people died in Sudan's 22-year civil war, one of Africa's longest, which ended with a peace deal in 2005. Neither army has provided casualty figures but one Southern soldier in Bentiu said earlier: "There are so many bodies at the front line, so many dead" that it is impossible to bury them or bring them back. Juba has refused to withdraw from Heglig unless certain conditions are met, including Khartoum's pullout from the neighboring Abyei region it holds and which, like Heglig, is claimed by both sides. When the South separated last July, Khartoum lost about 75 percent of its oil production and billions of dollars in revenue, leaving the Heglig area as its main producer. Its output roughly fulfilled domestic requirements. But Tuesday's attack caused a total production shutdown in the area, said Ahmed Haroun, governor of South Kordofan state, where Heglig is located. World powers including the African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... , United Nations ...Parkinson's Law on an international scale... , United States and China have called for restraint and voiced deep concern at the escalation of violence. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 Who is the real attacker? The one conducting the aerial bombardment. |
| Posted by: American Delight 2012-04-15 08:42 |