Heavy fighting is going on in the capital of Unity State Bentiu and nearby Rubkona where the 4th Division of the SPLA is based. Several people in Bentiu told Radio Tamazuj this morning that the oil town was still under control of the regular SPLA.
The 4th Division has a large contingent of Nuer soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir’s opponent Riek Machar who is from the state. According to reports some of them have defected. Another new military attack was reported earlier near the oilfields of Thar Jath, northeast of Leer. Unconfirmed reports say that security forces in charge of protecting the oilfields were involved.
A national NGO worker in Bentiu said fighting started there on Thursday evening and continued until about midnight. This morning the battle resumed in Rubkona, a populated town across the river nearby Bentiu. The Bentiu-Rubkona bridge is blocked, cutting off access to the airport.
Sixteen (16) people were killed last Wednesday night and Thursday at oil fields in Unity State, causing oil workers to flee and prompting plans for their evacuation. The oil companies operating in Unity State are China National Petroleum Corp, India’s ONGC Videsh and Malaysia’s Petronas. Five oil workers were killed in the first outbreak of hostilities in GPOC base camp late Wednesday night. They were beaten to death by their colleagues in may have been racially motivated violence.
Another 11 people died on Thursday in fighting in Thar Jath field. According to the Deputy Governor Mabek Lang De Mading, on Thursday “reinforcements have now contained the situation.” It is not clear whether those involved were working in actual drilling operations or were security personnel detailed to protect the oil and pipeline facilities. In the wake of the clashes, over 200 oil workers fled their posts and sought refuge at the UNMISS base in Rubkona.
File Photo (The Niles): The attacked oil production site in Rubkona of Chinese Greater Pioneer Operating Company, which runs the Unity Oil Fields.