South Sudan’s army was recently forced out of the disputed town of Abyei Sudan ‘bombs southern oil state’
South Sudan’s army was recently forced out of the disputed town of Abyei Sudan’s military has bombed a village in an oil-rich southern region, southern officials say, as tensions increase ahead of the south’s independence next month.
Three people were killed in the raid on Unity State, in a move to take control of the region’s oil fields, the south’s military spokesman said.
Some 140,000 people have fled recent fighting near the border, the UN says.
Sudan’s north-south conflict left some 1.5 million dead over two decades.
The war ended with a 2005 peace deal, under which the mainly Christian and animist south held a referendum in January on whether to secede from the largely Arabic-speaking, Muslim north.
Some 99% of voters opted for independence, and President Omar al-Bashir said he would accept the verdict of the south, where most of Sudan’s oil fields lie.
But last month, his forces seized the disputed town of Abyei. There have also been recent clashes in South Kordofan state, which is in the north but is home to many pro-south communities.
South Sudan’s military spokesman Philip Aguer told the AFP news agency that the bombing of Unity State was a move to seize the region’s oil and said the south’s military was boosting its defences.
“SAF [Sudan Armed Forces] aircraft bombed the area of Yau, in Unity state, many times on Thursday,” he said, adding that the attacks had continued on Friday.
“This area is deep inside South Sudan and is a move by Khartoum to control the area and create a de facto border to control our oil fields.”
The BBC’s Peter Martell in South Sudan says the southern reaction suggests they are taking it very seriously indeed.
If the south’s fears are proved right, our correspondent says it is a worrying development as it could trigger wider north-south clashes.
But he says it is also possible that it could be an extension of the fighting in South Kordofan, with the north bombing pro-southern fighters who had crossed into South Sudan.
Between 30,000 and 40,000 people have fled recent fighting just across the north-south border in South Kordofan, the UN says.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said that aid agency offices had been looted in the region’s capital, Kadugli and that many aid workers were among those who had fled their homes, reports the AP news agency.
Sudan: A country divided
Geography Ethnic groups Infant mortality Water & sanitation Education Food insecurity Oil fields
Show regions
The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. Southern Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.
Sudan’s arid northern regions are home mainly to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in Southern Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own traditional beliefs and languages.
The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In Southern Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.
The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.
Throughout Sudan, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.
Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in Sudan. The residents of war-affected Darfur and Southern Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.
Sudan exports billions of dollars of oil per year. Southern states produce more than 80% of it, but receive only 50% of the revenue, exacerbating tensions with the north. The oil-producing region of Abyei was due to hold a separate vote on whether to join the north or the south, but it has been postponed indefinitely.
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