Sudan Bombs South Sudanese Refugee Camp , Reports Say
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sudan bombs south sudanese refugee camp report
Sudan Bombs South Sudanese Refugee Camp , Reports <m> Say </m>
http : / / www . huffingtonpost . com / 2011 / 11 / 10 / sudan - bombs - south - sudanese - refugee - camp _ n _ 1086031 . html
Sudan Bombs South Sudanese Refugee Camp , Reports <m> Say </m>
11 / 10 / 11 02 : 39 PM ET
Military aircraft from Sudan crossed the new international border with South Sudan and dropped bombs Thursday in and around a camp filled with refugees , officials said .
A government official initially reported deaths , but an American activist who spoke to aid workers at the camp later said there were no casualties .
There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese government in Khartoum on Thursday , as deadly fighting broke out in the Sudanese state of South Kordofan between the military and forces loyal to South Sudan , according to official Sudanese media .
Meanwhile , the violence in and near the Yida refugee camp , located 10 miles ( 15 kilometers ) south of the border , came one day after bombings were reported in another region of South Sudan , an attack that provoked strong condemnation from the U . S . State Department .
The president of South Sudan , which became the world's newest country only four months ago , said he fears the Khartoum - based government intends to invade the south soon .
"Whatever allegations Khartoum labels against the Republic of South Sudan are baseless , but intended to justify his pending invasion of the south , " President Salva Kiir said .
He later added : "We are committed to peaceful resolutions to any conflict but we will never allow our sovereignty to be violated by anybody . "
The violence is especially troubling given the history between the two sides : The black African tribes of South Sudan and the mainly Arab north battled two civil wars over more than five decades , and some 2 million died in the latest war , from 1983 - 2005 .
A peace deal ended the war and South Sudan became its own country in July after a successful independence referendum .
But there have been lingering disputes over border demarcation and oil - sharing revenues .
Ryan Boyette , a former aid worker who lives in Sudan who is now leading a team of 15 citizen journalists , said he talked to five aid workers in the Yida camp , all of whom said that four bombs were dropped but that they caused no casualties .
Boyette said a U . N . helicopter had landed on a nearby airstrip right as the first bomb hit .
One of the bombs landed in a school yard where about 300 students were attending class , but the bomb did not explode , Boyette said , citing aid workers at the camp .
Aleem Siddique , a U . N . spokesman in South Sudan , said : "We're concerned for the safety of civilians in the area following reports of explosions and we are liaising with the authorities . "
Jonathan Hutson , a spokesman for the U . S . advocacy group the Enough Project , said aid workers inside the Yida refugee camp said at least one bomb landed in the camp , and three or four fell outside it .
The aid workers or their groups could not be named for security reasons , Hutson said .
Hutson said at least 15 , 000 refugees who fled violence in Sudan are living in the Yida camp .
They walked at least seven days to reach the camp , he said .
Miabek Lang , the commissioner of Pariang County in South Sudan's Unity State , said earlier that 12 people were killed and 20 were wounded in Thursday's bombing .
Lang could not be reached again for clarification on the conflicting reports .
The Wednesday bombings in Upper Nile state sparked condemnation from the U . S . State Department , which said the "unacceptable and unjustified" attacks increase the potential of conflict between Sudan and South Sudan .
South Sudan's president said Thursday that seven people were killed in those bombings .
John Prendergast , the co - founder of the Enough Project , said the regime in Khartoum , Sudan's capital , is attempting to provoke South Sudan into restarting a war .
"The regime's end game is to either capture South Sudan's oil fields along their common border , or achieve a stronger negotiating position on shared oil revenues and border demarcation , " Prendergast said .
"This provocation must be countered by the full force of the international community , or else a massive war could unfold . "
South Sudan's oil reserves must be pumped through pipelines that run through Sudan .
Splitting the oil revenues has long been a major sticking point between the two sides .
Another major issue is the demarcation of the border .
Though the countries are now separate an official border has not yet been laid down .
Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro - South Sudan groups in its territory .
But Kiir said Thursday that the accusations from Khartoum are "smoke screens" to mask Sudan's support of armed groups fighting a proxy war against South Sudan .
His comments came as Sudan said an unspecified number of rebels , soldiers and civilians were killed in clashes in the border state of South Kordofan in the town of Talodi on Thursday .
Sudanese Army spokesman Khaled Saad , quoted in the official news agency SUNA , said the military had repelled a planned attack by forces loyal to the southern movement , or Sudan People's Liberation Army , who hail from a minority ethnic group now in control of much of South Sudan .