South Sudan’s Lakes State condemns border aggression

April 14, 2012 (JUBA) – The Governor of Lakes State, Chol Tong Mayay, has condemned the ongoing bombing in Unity State being carryout by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) as Sudan and South Sudan’s border war over oil-rich Heglig continues.

Governor Chol said he supported the position of South Sudan president Salva Kiir Mayardit for having rejected the international pressure to withdraw its forces from Heglig, which South Sudan’s army (SPLA) have occupied since Tuesday. In South Sudan Heglig is known as Panthou and it is claimed by both countries along the poorly demarcated and oil-rich border region.

Kiir stated on Friday that the SPLA would only withdraw if guarantees were given that Heglig would not be used by SAF to attack Unity State or if UN peacekeepers were deployed there until the status of the area could be resolved.

Khartoum has vowed to retake Heglig militarily and SAF spokesperson, Khaled Al-Sawarmi, said late on Friday that it had retaken part of the area but not the town or its oilfields. South Sudan’s Vice President, however, told Sudan Tribune that the SAF attack had been repulsed.

The spokesperson of the South Sudanese army (SPLA) Philip Aguer told the BBC fighting has also occurred in the border area of Kersana, which is 41km north of Heglig.

Governor Mayay congratulate the SPLA forces for their move to occupy Panthou/Heglig as payback for SAF aggression towards South Sudanese territories, most notably in bombing campaigns that Khartoum denies, despite mounting evidence.

A bomb landing near Rubkotna bridge in Unity State on Saturday killed four civilians and one soldier according to Juba, with four civilians also injured.

Mayay condemned the continued “provocation” and acts of “aggression and invasion into our territory” by the Sudanese military.

The governor also congratulated South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, on his refusal to follow the “order” he says he was given by the UN chief Ban Ki-Moon to remove the SPLA from Heglig.

“I congratulate our president General Savla Kiir Mayardit, the commander in chief of the SPLA and chairman of SPLM party for strong rejection for the order of UN secretary general to withdraw our forces”, he said.

Governor Mayay appealed to South Sudanese across ten states to contribute in resources materials to support the South Sudanese army on the frontline. Both nations have instigated mobilisation campaigns in preparation for what many fear could become an all-out war between the two nations.

Mayay on Saturday described Khartoum’s “aggression” against South Sudan as “barbaric” stating that his country was only repulsing “Bashir and his criminal gang in Khartoum”.

The international community’s calls for South Sudan to withdraw from Heglig have been met by critisism and protest from student and civil society group across South Sudan.

(ST)