South Sudan accuses Sudan of bombing oil pipeline in raid
South Sudan's military said an oil pipeline was damaged in a bombing raid carried out by two Sudanese Air Force MiG jets in Unity state on the border between the two countries. Sudan denied any involvement.
The attack occurred about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, Colonel Philip Aguer, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army, said today by phone from Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The town's water supply was contaminated with oil in the attack, he said. It wasn't immediately clear whether there were any casualties.
"We have nothing to do with this bombing," Sudanese army spokesman al-Sawarami Khaled said in a phone interview today from Khartoum, the capital. "We don't have any interest in attacking land belonging to South Sudan and bombing oil wells is not in our interests any way."
Fighting last weekend between Sudanese forces and rebels in the Sudanese state of Southern Kordofan, which borders Unity state, prompted Sudan to lodge a complaint with the United Nations Security Council. Sudan claimed that South Sudanese soldiers took part in the operations. Sudan ``reserves the right according to international law to react to this attack,'' the government said in a statement posted by the state-run Sudan Media Centre on Feb. 28.
Support Denied
South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin yesterday denied the accusations and said his government wasn't giving any ``military or political support'' to the rebels. Aguer said MiG fighter aircraft have flown over Jaw recently, though no bombs had been dropped until yesterday.
Equipment at wells 5 and 8 were damaged in the raid, resulting in an oil spill in the area, Benjamin told reporters today in Juba. Two vehicles owned by engineers carrying out maintenance work at the time of the bombings were damaged, he said. The engineers were unharmed.
"The Republic of South Sudan is making urgent arrangements to put this violation of our airspace at an end," he said.
Aguer said the Sudanese army also moved ``vehicle-mounted heavy machine guns'' about 500 metres from southern army positions in the border area of Jaw. ``We are trying to analyze if they are preparing for a ground attack,'' he said.
Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co., which operates wells and a pipeline that runs from Unity state through Sudan, has been notified of the incident and power links to the wells have been switched off, Benjamin said. Calls to the offices of the Khartoum-based company weren't answered when Bloomberg sought comment.
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