Sudan army says Blue Nile’s gunfire "accidental"
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September 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sounds of firefight were heard on
Tuesday evening in the capital of Sudan’s southern state of Blue Nile,
a resident said; prompting the country’s army to downplay the events
as accidental.
JPEG - 27.1 kb
Sudanese army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad speaks to reporters about
the clashes between the Sudanese army and the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA) in Blue Nile in Khartoum September 2, 2011
(REUTERS)
"One hour ago, I heard gunfire and artillery bombardments in different
parts of the city. The shooting lasted about 15 or 20 minutes," AFP
quoted a Sudanese journalist in the capital al-Damazin as saying.
The source added that the city’s power supply had been cut.
The Blue Nile state on 1 September joined the list of Sudan’s
flashpoints along with the state of South Kordofan and the western
region of Darfur, when fighting erupted there between Sudan’s army
(SAF) and forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North
(SPLM-N) led by the state’s governor Malik Agar.
Both sides accused each other of starting the fighting. Sudan’s
President Omer Al-Bashir later declared a state of emergency in the
state and sacked Agar, appointing an interim military ruler in his
place.
According to SAF’s spokesperson, Alsoarmi Khaled Saad, the gunfire
heard in Al-Damazin occurred when one SAF member "accidentally" opened
fire which caused panic among the citizens.
The army spokesman added that no casualties resulted from the
shooting. "These kinds of incidents tend to occur in military areas.
There is no cause of concern.”
Blue Nile State and its nearby South Kordofan State lie on the borders
with the newly established state of South Sudan. Their population
largely sided with the south during the years of Sudan’s second civil
wars which ended in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA).
Under the security arrangement protocol of the CPA, which concluded
with South Sudan’s secession in July this year, the SPLM-N - which is
the former northern branch of the ruling party in South Sudan - was
supposed to disarm its forces and integrate them into the Sudanese
army.
However that process stalled along with the CPA-mandated popular
consultation vote to gauge local views on the implementation of the
agreement, setting the stage for what has now become a full-scale war
in the rump of the country between the government in Khartoum and
SPLM-N.
Sudan security services banned the SPLM-N and shuttered its offices in
the north. President al-Bashir vowed this week to crush any rebel
military attack in Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
(ST)
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