Bomb blast in South Sudan’s Unity state

A refugee camp in South Sudan’s Unity state was bombed on Thursday, increasing tensions across the border.

According to Reuters there was a sound of a large explosion in the Yida refugee camp, which left a crater about two meters wide (6.6 feet) in size, an unexploded bomb wedged in the side of a school building and a white aircraft flying north. Witnesses said three explosions followed.

The camp houses 20,000 refugees from the Juba Mountains region of South Kordofan, a state north of the border which has been under constant fighting between rebels and Sudan’s army since June.

“They don’t want any life in Juba Mountains and now they are expanding the war to South Sudan Republic, I don't know why,” said Yousif Ismail, a refugee from the Juba Mountains.

South Sudan gained independence in July after voting for secession in a January referendum. This was the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war between north and south.

Since South Sudan’s independence violence along the border has strained ties between the South Sudan and Sudan, with each side accusing the other of backing rebel groups on their sides of the border.

“We are escaping from there for security and safety but we are still followed by that criminal man who is wanted by the ICC,” said Ismail, referring to Sudan President al-Bashir.

Fighting has broken out in Sudan’s Blue Nile state this year. Blue Nile and South Kordofan are home to tens of thousands of fighters who sided with the south during the war but were left in Sudan when South Sudan seceded, analysts say.

Last week, Khartoum submitted its second complaint to the U.N. Security Council, accusing South Sudan of supplying anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, ammunition, landmines and mortars to the insurgents.

But a teacher at the camp disputes what Sudan is saying and accuses Bashir as being behind the bombing.

The two countries have yet to agree on how much the new nation will pay to use Sudan’s oil pipelines and other facilities, which South Sudan depends on to export crude. They also dispute control of the Abyei region.

Some 2 million people died in the north-south civil war, waged for all but a few years since 1955 over religion, ideology, ethnicity and oil.
Source http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/11/176606.html

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How a cyber attack hampered Hong Kong protesters

‘The chances of nuclear use are minimal. Both Russia & Ukraine are well aware of results’: DB Venkatesh Varma

Pak off FATF Grey List; ‘Black Spot’ on Fight Against Terror Irks India; J&K Guv Says 'World is Watching'