After Melut, South Sudanese rebels target main oilfields in Paloch
May 19, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese rebels said they have captured yet another strategic oil-rich town of Melut on Tuesday and began shelling the main oilfields of Paloch which is located a few kilometres away.
“There is no fighting whatsoever in or around Malakal town. The town has been calm since 16 May when our joint forces under the overall command of Major General Johnson Olony captured it,” Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.
Malakal is the capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile state which the rebels captured on Saturday last week.
On Tuesday, spokesperson for the South Sudanese army (SPLA) Colonel Philip Aguer told reporters in Juba that fighting was taking place in Malakal to try to retake the town from the rebels. However, he did not talk about the fighting in the oilfields, north of the capital. He generally said there was fighting going on in Upper Nile state which he said he had “no details” about yet.
But the rebel leader’s spokesperson said the government seemed to have encountered difficulty on how to explain their defeat in the oilfields.
“As we speak, Melut town, which is the headquarters of Melut county, is under our full control since Tuesday. Our forces have started shelling government positions in Paloch which is only 5 kilometres away from Melut town,” he said.
He said “in the next 24 hours or so” the rebels might be in control of the country’s main oilfields.
He also said the attempt by government forces to attack Malakal from its southern part from the direction of Baliet county on Monday was stopped about 30 kilometers away when they were repulsed and dispersed in disarray.
“Ask those inside Malakal town and they will tell you that the town has been calm. Pro-Salva Kiir’s soldiers are nowhere to be seen,” he said.
Sources residing in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Malakal however told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that they were not aware of any fighting taking place in or near the town.
In Melut, Dak added that the opposition forces captured a large quantity of heavy weaponry in Melut town and destroyed government’s ferries mounted with heavy artilleries.
Local sources in the area on Tuesday told Sudan Tribune that fighting was taking place around the oilfields but could not say which side was in control.
UN REPORTS MILITARY MOVEMENTS IN MELUT
In New York, the deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, Farhan Haq, said the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported “military movements” in the area of Melut.
“Three explosions were heard approximately 40 kilometres from the Mission’s base,” Haq said.
He said that 270 displaced persons have arrived at the Mission’s protection site in Melut on Tuesday morning. Further, between 250 to 350 civilians sought shelter “at a newly allocated protection area adjacent to the Mission’s base,” he added.
The opposition faction (SPLM-IO) said they targeted the oilfields in response to full scale offensive on their positions in the three states of Upper Nile region (Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei). They also aimed to close down the main source of revenue, the oil, which they said Juba was using to finance the war.
Oil companies have closed down and evacuated their international and national staff as fighting reportedly got closer on Tuesday following announcement by the rebels to target the production area.
(ST)
Related article:
South Sudanese rebels reach oilfields in Upper Nile state: spokesperson