Friday, January 04, 2013

Clashes Between South Sudan-linked Armed Groups Kill 22

Clashes between S Sudan-linked armed groups, Sudanese tribesmen kill 22

Fri Jan 4, 2013 1:30AM GMT
presstv.ir

Clashes between armed groups linked to South Sudan and Sudanese tribesmen in Sudan’s East Darfur State have claimed the lives of at least 22 people.

“A force belonging to Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) of South Sudan attacked Balila area which is affiliating to Samaha area Administration (near the Bahr al-Arab River) in East Darfur State…The clashes resulted in the killing of 22 people,” said Siddiq Abdul-Nabi, a local official in the East Darfur State, on Thursday.

At least 25 others were injured in the clashes who were sent to the Al-Dein hospital, he added.

This comes after Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir agreed to take part in a summit with his South Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir in Addis Ababa on Friday to revive halted economic and security agreements.

Emad Sayed Ahmed, Sudan's presidential press secretary, said on Tuesday that the meeting would “discuss means of speeding up the implementation of the issues agreed upon at the summit between the two” more than three months ago.

In September, South Sudan and Sudan endorsed an African Union-mediated agreement in the Ethiopian capital in a bid to end a border conflict, but failed to put the deal into effect.

The agreement advocates the creation of a jointly-monitored demilitarized buffer zone and a resumption of South Sudanese oil exports through northern pipelines.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 as part of a 2005 peace treaty, which ended decades of war between the two sides.

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