SPLM/A slams bombing of relief centre

The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on Thursday denounced recent government bomb attacks on a site for relief food distribution in Bahr al-Ghazal province, southern Sudan. Bomb attacks on Mangayath village between 5 and 8 October were "premeditated acts and constitute pure terrorism, which must not be condoned," according to SPLM/A spokesman Samson Kwaje. "The SPLM/A condemns in the strongest possible terms the government of Sudan's cowardly policy of always targeting soft civilian centres," he said, adding that the government was "very much aware that Mangayat has no military significance as it is a centre for the internally displaced population."

According to WFP, government Antonov aircraft dropped 15 bombs on Mangayath on 5 October, followed by further attacks on 7 October and 8 October. The UN on Tuesday pulled relief staff out of Mangayath without completing a planned delivery of 240 mt of emergency food aid.

The SPLM/A also criticised Khartoum recent comments hinting that it could pull out of a peace process sponsored by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) if significant progress were not made in the next round of talks. "It is now clear that the government of Sudan prefers other initiatives, particularly those which do not mention the right of self-determination for southern Sudan," Kwaje said. Presidential peace adviser Ghazi Salah al-Din al-Atabani said last week the Sudanese government was "fed up" with slow progress in the talks. The government has given its backing to a parallel initiative put forward by the governments of Egypt and Libya, a joint memorandum on which makes no mention of self-determination.