The South Sudanese army said Saturday that it repelled an attack by rebels backed by neighboring Sudan outside Malakal, capital of the fledgling country’s Upper Nile State.
“It was Sudan-supported militias that attacked SPLA (South Sudan army) positions” around Malakal on Friday, Colonel Philip Aguer told AFP, adding that the South Sudanese army repelled the attack, with an unknown number of casualties.
But the rebels claimed to have surrounded Malakal, saying in a statement: “The magnanimous forces of South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) launched Operation Ending Corruption and surrounded Malakal ... and captured its surroundings.”
Aguer said South Sudan’s forces had captured three rebel fighters and one vehicle.
“The SPLA is still chasing them and is observing another group this morning that has entered our territory,” he said, adding that the rebels who attacked Friday were under the command of warlord Johnson Olony and came from Sudan’s White Nile State.
“It was Sudan-supported militias that attacked SPLA (South Sudan army) positions” around Malakal on Friday, Colonel Philip Aguer told AFP, adding that the South Sudanese army repelled the attack, with an unknown number of casualties.
But the rebels claimed to have surrounded Malakal, saying in a statement: “The magnanimous forces of South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) launched Operation Ending Corruption and surrounded Malakal ... and captured its surroundings.”
Aguer said South Sudan’s forces had captured three rebel fighters and one vehicle.
“The SPLA is still chasing them and is observing another group this morning that has entered our territory,” he said, adding that the rebels who attacked Friday were under the command of warlord Johnson Olony and came from Sudan’s White Nile State.
“This is part of the war that Sudan has designed. Sudan is promising that if they capture the oil fields it will share them with the (rebel) forces,” Aguer said.
“They are coming from Khartoum. Since they (Sudan) cannot bomb us, they are arming and sending militias and mercenaries now”, South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin added.
On Wednesday, the African Union (AU) ordered Sudan to stop bombing South Sudan, after weeks of fighting on the borders of the new nation’s second oil-producing state, Unity.
The international community has also told both sides to stop funding militias within one another’s territory.
The African Union has given the two neighbors two weeks to return to negotiations, and three months to find a deal on outstanding issues on oil, borders and contested territory following South Sudan’s split from the north in July.
After that, the 54-state body has threatened to decide for its newest member and Sudan, while the U.N. Security Council is mulling sanctions against both cash-strapped nations fighting over oil, to avert a slide back to decades of war.
Government spokesman Benjamin said Khartoum’s forces and allied militias had also been threatening in South Sudan’s Western-Bahr-el-Ghazal state, while Auguer claimed the Lord’s Resistance Army had become involved with Sudan’s support.
The LRA led by warlord Joseph Kony has terrorized parts of Central African Republic, South Sudan, northern Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo for years.
“They have been attacking villages in Raja County, Western-Bahr-el-Ghazal- stopping people from farming and abducting women and children”, Auguer said.
“They are coming from Khartoum. Since they (Sudan) cannot bomb us, they are arming and sending militias and mercenaries now”, South Sudan government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin added.
On Wednesday, the African Union (AU) ordered Sudan to stop bombing South Sudan, after weeks of fighting on the borders of the new nation’s second oil-producing state, Unity.
The international community has also told both sides to stop funding militias within one another’s territory.
The African Union has given the two neighbors two weeks to return to negotiations, and three months to find a deal on outstanding issues on oil, borders and contested territory following South Sudan’s split from the north in July.
After that, the 54-state body has threatened to decide for its newest member and Sudan, while the U.N. Security Council is mulling sanctions against both cash-strapped nations fighting over oil, to avert a slide back to decades of war.
Government spokesman Benjamin said Khartoum’s forces and allied militias had also been threatening in South Sudan’s Western-Bahr-el-Ghazal state, while Auguer claimed the Lord’s Resistance Army had become involved with Sudan’s support.
The LRA led by warlord Joseph Kony has terrorized parts of Central African Republic, South Sudan, northern Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo for years.
“They have been attacking villages in Raja County, Western-Bahr-el-Ghazal- stopping people from farming and abducting women and children”, Auguer said.
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