A lawmaker representing Upper Nile State’s Maban County in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly has decried Tuesday’s killing of two boys in a random Sudanese army airstrike in a border area with Sudan’s Blue Nile State.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Member of Parliament David Unyo Demey, said Tuesday’s incident was reminiscent of an incident in 2012 when the Sudanese army carried out aerial bombardments on the same area of Khor-Tumbak. He condemned the killing of the two South Sudanese citizens as gruesome and ultimate disregard for his country’s airspace.
“In the afternoon of 6 August, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) bombarded Khor-Tumbak, a border area in Maban County, killing two boys who were herding their cattle. One cow was also killed,” Unyo stated. “This is not the first such attack. In 2012, Khor-Tumbak Boma was also bombed by the Sudanese air force.”
The lawmaker criticized the silence of the South Sudanese authorities over the incident, calling on the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense to raise this issue with their Sudanese counterparts.
He added, “The reason for them attacking the area is not clear but recently there was fighting near the border between SAF with SPLM-N and RSF.”
The South Sudanese lawmaker demanded justice for the victims of the Sudanese army airstrike in Maban County.
For his part, Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF spokesperson said that the incident is being investigated and urged for calm.
“On 6 August, there was an incident in which two boys and one cow was killed in a Sudanese army airstrike on our side of the border in an area called Khor-Tumbak. These airstrikes were not intentional. What happened a week ago was that a Sudanese army general allied to Gen. Malik Agar defected to Gen. Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu’s SPLM-N and he has since been fighting SAF at the border. So these airstrikes targeted those fighting SAF, but they fell on our side accidentally,” Maj. Gen. Lul narrated.
He added, “Since the incident started, we have been gathering details, and it was only on 7 August that we were able to establish details. As the army we are aware and the army leadership will officially inform the Sudanese side soon. So we are informing our citizens that the incident was unintentional. Secondly, on compensation for the damages and the killing, this will be handled by our justice and foreign affairs ministries.”
Calls to the Sudanese army spokesman went unanswered.