South Sudanese rebels reach oilfields in Upper Nile state: spokesperson
May 19, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese rebels led by former vice president, Riek Machar, have asked all the oil companies operating in the oilfields in Upper Nile state to close down immediately and evacuate their staff for their safety.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the spokesman for the rebel leader said their forces were only 5km away from Melut town and 10km from the main oilfields of Paloch with the aim to capture and control it.
“SPLM/SPLA leadership has asked all oil companies operating in Upper Nile state to shut down their operations and evacuate their staff immediately,” Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
“We also ask them to do the process of closing down in a safe manner that will not damage the oil facilities and cause environmental damage,” he said.
He said rebel forces already captured Tangrial Bil oil refinery site on Tuesday night and were moving to Melut town, which he said, was only 5km from the oil refinery site.
Dak explained that the decision to take over the oilfields came in response to the ongoing government’s full scale offensive in the three states of the Upper Nile region.
“In response to the government’s full scale offensive on our positions in the three states of greater Upper Nile region, we have decided to take control of the oilfields and deny Salva Kiir from using the oil revenues to perpetuate the war,” he said.
In the Tuesday’s battles over the control of the refinery site, Dak said the SPLM-IO forces inflicted heavy casualties on the government’s troops, including the capture of the government’s warship mounted with heavy artilleries.
He said the oil fields had been besieged and the call for closing down the facilities evacuating the oil workers was a matter of urgency for their safety.
Major General Johnson Olony, the militia commander on the ground said they given an ultimatum to the civilians and humanitarian organisations in the area to immediately leave to avoid being caught in crossfire.
“We do not want civilians to be caught in the fighting. We have asked them, through the media, their relatives, and international organisations and through individuals who have contacted us to let civilians leave Melut town and surrounding areas because we are around it,” Olony exclusively told Sudan Tribune by phone on Tuesday.
“We do not target civilians, but we fear the government could use them as a shield. So we advise the civilians to leave so that they are not caught in the middle”, he added.
Olony, who recently fell out with the Juba regime, further said they had contacted foreign diplomats, particularly the Chinese embassy in Juba, to advise their citizens working at the oil companies in Upper Nile to halt production and immediately leave.
“We have no problem with them [workers] and this is why we are alerting them to leave. We don’t want them to ignore this message,” he said.
FIGHTING IN MALAKAL
South Sudan army spokesperson Col. Phillip Aguer said fighting continues between government troops and armed opposition forces in the Upper Nile capital, Malakal.
Aguer told reporters on Tuesday that pro-government forces were in control of the situation and it was a matter of time before they took control of the strategic town.
“The general command of the SPLA is closely monitoring the current developing situation on the ground in Upper Nile. Our forces are in control of the situation and the only update for the public is that there is fighting in Malakal and we are monitoring how the situation is developing, but with difficulty getting the details of the fighting,” he said.
(ST)