Juba (Sudan): A rebellion by former
pro-Khartoum militiamen in south Sudan against giving up their
heavy weapons sparked two days of clashes which killed 20
people in one of the region`s three main towns, a military
spokesman said on Saturday.
At least 24 people were wounded in the fighting in
Malakal, capital of sensitive Upper Nile state close to the
border with the north, said Philip Aguer, spokesman for the
former rebel Sudan People`s Liberation Army (SPLA).
"There was heavy fighting with mortars fired by both
sides, but the clashes have now been brought under control,"
Aguer said.
"Our forces in the SPLA, along with the United Nations
peacekeepers, have succeeded in creating a buffer zone between
the two sides and to bring the situation to an end."
The fighting around Malakal airport was sparked on
Thursday when loyalists of Gabriel Tang, who commanded a
pro-Khartoum militia during the 1983-2005 civil war between
north and south, objected to surrendering their heavy
weaponry.
The former militiamen are deployed alongside regular
northern troops in so-called Joint Integrated Units with
southern forces that patrol the town under the peace agreement
that ended the civil war.
In reality the units are far from integrated and the
component elements effectively operate as separate forces.
The northern troops are shifting their equipment back
home as the south gears up for its expected international
recognition as an independent state in July following its
overwhelming vote for secession in last month`s landmark
referendum.
But the ex-militiamen, whose roots are in the south, want
to keep their unit`s tanks in Malakal and they put up a
ferocious resistance to their redeployment.
Six civilians and one SPLA soldier were killed in the
crossfire, as the southern force tried to intervene, Aguer
said. Two of the dead were young children, he added.
Six regular northern troops and seven former militiamen
were also killed in the fighting, Aguer said.
Two civilians and a total of 22 members of the northern
force were wounded.
PTI
