ΕιδήσειςΕυρωπαϊκές Ειδήσεις Fighting Rages in South Sudan Oil Regions dj Πεμ, 26 Δεκεμβρίου 2013 - 12:59
Heavy fighting between government forces and rebels was raging Thursday in South Sudan's key oil-producing north, officials said, as neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia stepped up efforts to broker an end to the civil war. Army spokesman Philip Aguer said troops loyal to President Salva Kiir were battling forces allied to former vice president Riek Machar inside the town of Malakal , capital of Upper Nile state. He also said troops were preparing an offensive against Bentiu, the main town in oil-rich Unity State, to follow on from their recapture of Bor, another state capital that had fallen into rebel hands during the nearly two weeks of clashes in the world' youngest nation. "There is fighting in Malakal. Our forces are in the northern part of Malakal and the rebels are on the southern part. We will flush them out of Malakal," Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) spokesman Aguer told AFP. "The rebels are still controling Bentiu but SPLA is planning to retake Bentiu soon," he added. The violence in South Sudan , a fledgling oil producer which won independence from Sudan just two years ago, has left thousands dead, according to the United Nations. Tens of thousands of civilians have also sought protection at U.N. bases amid a wave of ethnic violence pitting members of Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer. The U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday to send nearly 6,000 extra soldiers and police to South Sudan, nearly doubling the UNMISS force to 12,500 troops and 1,323 civilian police. Amid reports of bodies piled in mass graves and witness testimonies of massacres and summary executions and rapes, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has promised those responsible would be "held accountable". Crude prices have edged higher because of the fighting as oil production, which accounts for more than 95 percent of South Sudan's fledgling economy, has been dented by the violence and oil workers evacuated. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopia 's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn flew into Juba on Thursday for talks with President Kiir, the latest in a line of peace brokers who have flown in since the fighting began on Dec. 15. The fighting started after Kiir accused Machar of attempting a coup. Machar denied this, and said the president was exploiting a clash between members of the army as a pretext to carry out a purge. Although Kiir and Machar--a former vice president who was sacked in July--have said they are open to peace talks, fighting has spread to half of the country's 10 states. Διαβάστε ακόμα Πουγιάν: Η Μεταφορά Φυσικού Αερίου μέσω Ουκρανίας Συνεχίζει να Επηρεάζει τις Ευρωπαϊκές Τιμές Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 17:40 Κεραυνός: Δεν Απείλησα Ότι θα Παραιτηθώ για τον Great Sea Interconnector Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 16:40 Κύπρος: Αύριο η Απόφαση για τον Σταθμό LNG στο Βασιλικό Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 15:00 Δασικές πυρκαγιές: Αντιμέτωπη με Μεγάλες Καθυστερήσεις σε Καναντέρ η Ευρώπη Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 13:50 Τι θα Χάσει η Κύπρος Αν Ναυαγήσει η Ηλεκτρική Διασύνδεση του GSI Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 12:55
Πουγιάν: Η Μεταφορά Φυσικού Αερίου μέσω Ουκρανίας Συνεχίζει να Επηρεάζει τις Ευρωπαϊκές Τιμές Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 17:40
Κεραυνός: Δεν Απείλησα Ότι θα Παραιτηθώ για τον Great Sea Interconnector Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 16:40
Δασικές πυρκαγιές: Αντιμέτωπη με Μεγάλες Καθυστερήσεις σε Καναντέρ η Ευρώπη Δευ, 26 Αυγούστου 2024 - 13:50