Africa

May 20, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan's armed opposition faction led by former vice president, Riek Machar, said their forces have tactically withdrawn from the oil-rich Melut town which they captured on Tuesday from president Salva Kiir's government.

South Sudanese soldiers stand during President Salva Kiir's visit to an oil refinery in Melut, Upper Nile State, South Sudan on November 20, 2012 (Getty Images)

Melut town which the rebel forces controlled for the last 48 hours is the biggest town near the country's main oilfields of Paloch and the headquarters of Melut county in Upper Nile state.

Rebel leader's spokesman said the opposition forces on Wednesday afternoon made a tactical withdrawal to a few kilometres in the outskirts of the town, adding that they would move back to the town centre any time soon.

“Our forces have tactically withdrawn to a few kilometres outside Melut town in order to reorganize for next move,” Machar's spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, said in a press statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

He said the rebel forces have also remained in full control of the country's Thiangrial refinery site in the area, which they captured from the government forces on Tuesday.

He said the temporary withdrawal from town centre was meant to reorganize various forces and for careful planning to dislodge government forces from Paloch oilfields in a way that should avoid damage to oil facilities.

“Paloch oilfields have remained besieged and our forces are waiting for next order to move in. We intend to avoid a takeover that may damage oil facilities,” he said.

When contacted on Wednesday he told Sudan Tribune that ground assault on the main oilfields had not yet taken place, adding this would take place “anytime soon.”

He also accused government forces of preventing some of the oil workers to leave the oilfields, saying they were holding them hostage as human shield. The rebel leader's spokesman said Juba will be held responsible for the lives of the detained oil workers.

ANOTHER GUNSHIP SHOT DOWN

Dak said the rebel forces also gunned down another helicopter gunship on Wednesday, saying it fell in Melut town and could easily be verified independently.

“SPLM/SPLA is hereby announcing that its forces have shot down another helicopter gunship on Wednesday in Melut town, South Sudan,” Dak said.

“The gunship was carrying out air raid on positions of our forces near Paloch oilfields and inside Melut town when it met its fate. It fell inside Melut town and can be easily independently verified,” he added.

Last week the rebel group claimed that it downed a gunship over Upper Nile state's capital, Malakal and fell in the bushes. They said the gunship belonged to Uganda air force, a claim denied by the Ugandan military spokesman, Paddy Arkunda.

The statement on the latest shooting down of the second helicopter did not however said the identity of the aircraft.

(ST)

The United Nations mission in Mali strongly condemned today an attack against a residential compound housing its military personnel in the country capital of Bamako, a spokesperson for the Organization confirmed today.

The United Nations has strongly condemned the escalation of hostilities in the past ten days between Government and opposition forces in Unity and Upper Nile States in South Sudan.

While it is too soon to celebrate definitive success in Somalia, and while the situation remains challenging, progress is being made and the international community would be missing a strategic opportunity if it failed to realize how much is being achieved, the top United Nations in the country told the Security Council today.

Almost two years since the eruption of the conflict in South Sudan, the situation continues to deteriorate with women and small children making up the majority of most recent casualties, a representative from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the country said today.

• Tweet Widget
• Facebook Like
• Email

South Sudan’s military and National Security Service have unlawfully detained dozens of civilians, some for as long as 10 months.

(Nairobi) – South Sudan’s military and National Security Service have unlawfully detained dozens of civilians, some for as long as 10 months, Human Rights Watch said today. Detainees, often accused of supporting South Sudanese rebels, have been kept in poor conditions, and in some instances tortured or brutally beaten.

read more

• Tweet Widget
• Facebook Like
• Email

The trial in Senegal of the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, set to begin July 20, 2015, will mark the culmination of a two-decade campaign for justice.

(Dakar) – The trial in Senegal of the former Chadian dictator Hissène Habré, set to begin July 20, 2015, will mark the culmination of a two-decade campaign for justice. 

read more

• Tweet Widget
• Facebook Like
• Email

Mathieu Ngudjolo, the first defendant to be acquitted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was deported to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 11, 2015.

(Kinshasa) Mathieu Ngudjolo, the first defendant to be acquitted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was deported to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 11, 2015, his lawyers said.

read more

• Tweet Widget
• Facebook Like
• Email

Zimbabwe authorities should urgently provide information on the whereabouts of a prominent human rights activist, Itai Dzamara.

(Johannesburg) – Zimbabwe authorities should urgently provide information on the whereabouts of a prominent human rights activist, Itai Dzamara, Human Rights Watch said today. Five armed men abducted Dzamara on March 9, 2015. He has not been heard from since, raising grave concerns that he has been forcibly disappeared.

read more

• Tweet Widget
• Facebook Like
• Email

The Sudanese government’s persistent indiscriminate air attacks in the Nuba Mountains area of Southern Kordofan are killing and maiming children.

(Nairobi) – The Sudanese government’s persistent indiscriminate air attacks in the Nuba Mountains area of Southern Kordofan are killing and maiming children. An aid blockade is causing a health and education crisis in the conflict-affected region.

read more

Provides an overview, key facts and dates for this Indian Ocean island

Provides an overview, basic facts and key events for this small southern African kingdom

Provides an overview of Djibouti, including key events and facts.

Provides an overview, key facts and history of Botswana, a major diamond producer in Southern Africa

Provides an overview of Sao Tome and Principe, including key events and facts about this oil-rich island nation - one of Africa's smallest states.