Unknown gunmen kill Chinese oil worker in South Kordofan
October 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — Unknown gunmen killed a Chinese oil worker in the troubled South Kordofan province where the Sudanese army is fighting the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement –North (SPLM-N) since last June.
The attack unveiled by the Chinese embassy in Khartoum took place on Wednesday night but the circumstance of the incident are unclear. But the diplomat said another oil worker was wounded during the assault.
The source described the attack as “isolated incident”. The embassy further said the issue of its nationals was raised with the Sudanese authorities who launched an investigation but still did not identify the attackers.
Omer al-Ansari a leader of the Misseriya tribe in the area told the Agence France Presse that the assault on the Chinese oil workers occurred as they were on the road between the town of Kielak and Heglig in South Kordofan.
The local leader said the gunmen captured some vehicles and money from the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), which operating in the Heglieg oil fields.
Local armed men from the region killed in October 2008 three Chinese workers during clashes with regular troops that intervened to free them from the kidnappers. The latter demanded ransoms.
Sudan is producing some 130,000 barrels per day. The oil authorities paln to launch new oil fields in Darfur and central Sudan .
(ST)