Government aircraft bomb Torit

The southern Sudanese town of Torit on Tuesday remained calm but tense, following Monday's heavy bombardment by government warplanes, the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) said. Media organisations reported on Monday that government planes and helicopters bombed Torit town - which was seized by the SPLM/A from the government on 1 September - causing heavy damage. SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN there had been no "significant" casualties in the town, although, he said, a total of 100 bombs had been dropped on it during Monday's raid. "They destroyed and flattened buildings, but there were no significant casualties, even in the civilian quarters." He said government troops were still being mobilised from neighbouring Juba, southern Sudan's main town, currently controlled by the government, to engage SPLA forces on the ground. "Government forces are still being brought from Juba. We are prepared. We are just waiting for them," he added. Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, charge d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi, confirmed the rebel seizure of Torit, and told IRIN that government troops would continue to "fight back". "Southern Sudan is now all smouldering. People are fighting everywhere, and government troops are also fighting back," he said. Last week, government negotiators pulled out of peace talks in the Kenyan town of Machakos aimed at ending Sudan's 19-year civil war, after the SPLA capture of Torit. According to Dirdeiry, there has been little effort so far by the international community and the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) negotiators to bring the parties back to the negotiating table. He held the SPLM/A responsible for the collapse of the talks and criticised the international pressure being brought to bear on Khartoum - as opposed to the SPLM/A - to resume talks. "No real effort is being made to bring back the parties back to the table," he said. "If there is any pressure, then it should be directed at the rebels, who have violated the Machakos Protocol. We cannot be expected to negotiate when fighting is going on," Dirdeiry said.