South Sudan official says Sudanese army behind Juba blasts
May 25, 2006 (JUBA) — A senior member of the Government of Southern Sudan has accused the Sudan Armed Forces of deliberately setting fire on an ammunition depot in Juba, Sudan Radio Service reported.
The advisor to the president of the Government of Southern Sudan and member of parliament, George Kinga alleged that the Sudan armed forces destroyed the ammunition because they are withdrawing from the Equatoria area. He called this explosion routine activity by Sudan Armed Forces that are expected to withdraw from the area.
Two Sudanese soldiers were killed and a UN monitor injured after an explosion in an ammunition depot in Juba, the capital of south Sudan, on Saturday May 20, 2006.
Sudan Armed Forces spokesman, Colonel El Bahar Mohamed El Bahar said the explosion was due to high temperatures. “The depot was a temporary one in which ammunition of different sizes, including shells of tank guns, have been placed,” Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson said.
The explosion which happened on Friday 19 May in Juba wounded seven people among them, four family members. The four family members were wounded when a shell landed on their house.
The fire caused intermittent explosions for about 90 minutes from 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) and sent a plume of smoke into the air on the edge of Juba, where the government of southern Sudan is based.
A spokesman for the former rebel Southern People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) went on local radio to reassure residents it was not an attack but a fire.
An investigation committee is expected to be set up to establish the cause of explosion.
(ST/SRS)