KHARTOUM: A peacekeeper was killed and two others were wounded as shells hit a United Nations base in Sudan’s troubled South Kordofan state yesterday, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said.
Residents suspect stray fire hit the base and that anti-government rebels were targeting a nearby football stadium scheduled to host the opening matches of a regional tournament next Tuesday.
Khartoum accuses the Juba government in South Sudan of backing the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) rebels in South Kordofan.
Tensions over the issue escalated this week, endangering an economically vital oil deal.
“I condemn this shelling, which killed one peacekeeper and injured two others,” Ban said, urging Khartoum and the SPLM-N to immediately cease hostilities and resume ceasefire negotiations.
The three Ethiopian victims are from the UN’s Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), a nearby area disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, a separate statement from Ban’s spokesman said.
UNISFA has a logistics base in Kadugli and Ban said two shells hit the office of a joint Sudan-South Sudan-UNISFA unit tasked with monitoring a border buffer zone.
Sudan last Sunday said it was freezing the oil deal, the buffer zone pact and seven other deals with South Sudan over alleged backing for rebels.
The SPLM-N have been fighting Sudanese forces for two years in South Kordofan, which the UN says faces a major humanitarian crisis. The rebels could not be reached for comment on Friday but they have periodically shelled Kadugli since late last year, causing some fatalities.
After the attack, about 20 staffers from various UN agencies in Kadugli sought protection at the World Food Programme office which is designated as one of several safe assembly points, WFP spokeswoman Amor Almagro said.
Rebels last targeted Kadugli in late April when they fired on the airport area. Now they have shifted to the town’s west end.
Sudan’s army’s spokesman could not be reached for comment.
“The funny thing is that this was the safest area in Kadugli,” one resident said, asking for anonymity. “I think they were targeting the stadium and the police base near the stadium.”
Another resident said he heard heavy weapons fire at the same time as the shelling. “They want to disrupt (the) CECAFA” Club Cup, said the resident.
Kenyan champions Tusker were scheduled to play in the opening day match in Kadugli but announced on June 6 that they were pulling out.
Club chairman James Musyoki explained that “no one can guarantee we will be safe”.
Kadugli is co-hosting the tournament with El Fasher in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region. Tanzania’s government warned two teams from that country against travelling to Darfur for their matches.
South Kordofan state governor Ahmed Haroun told worshippers at a Kadugli mosque yesterday that CECAFA “will continue”, said a resident who was at the mosque.
AFP
