Saturday, May 21, 2011

Killed 22 Sudanese soldiers in an attack by the SLA

At least 22 Sudanese soldiers were killed in an attack on Thursday night allegedly by troops from the autonomous region of southern Colombia, in a border area between north and south, said Friday the Sudanese army. The ambush, which was also lying against a contingent of UN peacekeepers, took place in the oil zone Ebei, whose sovereignty is disputed between northern and southern Sudan, said in remarks to reporters Deputy Chief of Staff Sudanese army, General Amer Sadiq.

The southern forces attacked two companies made a total of 200 soldiers while traveling in the outskirts of Ebei, pursuant to an agreement that stipulates the withdrawal of the joint forces of northern and southern Sudanese general said. Disappeared during the attack about 176 soldiers, the military high command said in a press conference he gave at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defence.

He also explained that the assault was committed while Sudanese forces were accompanied by UN peacekeepers in six trucks of the UN mission and four other Sudanese Army. Also revealed that the responsible military forces on Friday launched a major operation to evacuate the wounded from the attack.

On the other hand, rejected Amer qualify as unknown attackers, as did the peacekeeping force the UN. "The UN mission in the area knows that the ambush forces are only mixed and the Southern Army," said the general. In that sense, Amer said that the armed forces in Khartoum "will not forget this criminal aggression, so exercise its right to respond at the time and place." For its part, the UN mission in Sudan condemned the incident and called it a crime and a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement reached in the north and south, and therefore urged to conduct an urgent investigation to take appropriate action against the perpetrators of the attack.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Salahadin Wansi, met Friday with UN envoy to Sudan, Haile Menkerios, to analyze the impact of this attack. Wansi described the event as "a clear violation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement" signed between north and south and said they are taking steps to prevent such incidents happening again in the future.

For its part, Menkerios considered this as "a serious crime" and said that an investigation is underway to find out who is responsible. Earlier this month, the oil-rich of Ebei was the scene of clashes between the armies of the north and south Sudan, which killed at least 14 people. The tension and armed clashes in the area have increased since January, when the southerners a referendum voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence.

The plebiscite to decide the membership of Ebei, either north or south, was postponed indefinitely due to disagreement about which of its inhabitants have the right to vote. That vote should have been held along the southern referendum.

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