Sudan army and SPLA clash in south Sudan
Nov 30, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Clashes between the Sudanese army and former rebels have broken out in southern Sudan over recent days, in one of the worst incidents since a north-south peace deal was signed two years ago, the United Nations has said.
The clashes which broke out between the army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) Tuesday in the town of Malakal in Sudan’s Upper Nile State were a “flagrant violation of the peace treaty”, signed in January 2005, UN spokeswoman in Khartoum Radhia Achouri said Thursday.
A joint committee in charge of monitoring the ceasefire — made up of UN troops, Sudanese armed forces and southern forces — are currently investigating the matter, she said.
“Their intervention has been efficient,” Achouri said, stressing that calm had returned to Malakal, some 700 km (435 miles) south of Khartoum.
Achouri could not confirm the number of casualites but said the UN was in the process of bringing humanitarian assistance to the city.
On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement that he was “deeply concerned” about the heavy fighting.
He appealed to the government of national unity and the government of southern Sudan “to make all possible efforts to contain the situation” and expressed “hope that any differences in the area will be resolved peacefully.”
The former rebel SPLA signed a peace accord with the central government in Khartoum in January 2005, ending more than two decades of bloody civil war.
A unity government was formed and joint military units based in Khartoum.
(AFP)