Rebels blame government for Red Cross attack

The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) has denied responsibility for an attack on Wednesday morning which claimed the life of the co-pilot of an ICRC aircraft, saying the Red Cross was a neutral humanitarian organisation with which it collaborated. The plane was shot at north of Torit (in Eastern Equatoria), which was a government-held area and where the SPLA had no forces, SPLM spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN. “We have no forces in that area, but there are government forces in Torit, Kapoeta and Juba,” he said, adding that the plane was “definitely” fired on by either government forces or by a government-backed militia. The Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, told IRIN it had no information about the incident.

The Red Cross provides medical care to war victims and regularly evacuates war wounded from southern Sudan to a 560-bed field hospital in Lokichoggio. Its planes were bombed three times last year while on the ground in rebel-held southern Sudan, the Associated Press agency (AP) reported on Wednesday.