Bombing raids threaten aid

Two UN planes escaped without damage when Malual Kon and Riang Aketh, in northern Bahr el Ghazal province, were bombed on Friday. Bombs fell within 30m of the planes, which were stationary on the ground, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Monday. There have been no details of injuries or damage done during the bombing raids. The security of UN Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) was “under discussion”, UN sources said. Air drops were continuing, but a temporary suspension of non-essential flights to northern Bahr el Ghazal had been put into effect while the incident was investigated, OLS sources told IRIN. The bombings follow a “worrying pattern of attacks on civilian and aid targets” in Bahr el Ghazal, humanitarian sources said.

A WFP source told IRIN that while air drops were continuing, there was concern that continued insecurity would “make delivery of food aid more difficult”. WFP staff were needed on the ground to receive air drops but would have to be withdrawn if security continued to deteriorate, the official said, calling the bombings in northern Bahr el Ghazal were an “alarming” and “exceptional” development. The government bombing campaign began in the south after the rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) intensified attacks in Bahr el Ghazal, seizing the strategic town of Gogrial in June. Last week, the Sudan government put the nation on a new mobilisation alert, and warned that relief should not “fan the war” or go to rebels.