Ceasefire violation claims

The death toll from an attack on Friday at Akoch Payam village in northern Bahr al-Ghazal has risen to 35, according to information received today by IRIN. Seventy-five people were abducted, many are still missing, 200 houses burnt and hundreds of livestock looted. “The 25 people wounded have had no medical attention since the area’s medical centre was burnt down,” Achil Malith Banggol, director of the Nairobi-based NGO Sudan Production Aid told IRIN. Banggol said the attackers were from the pro-government Islamic militia Popular Defence Force because they “came on horses and no other militia uses horses”. The attackers hit the village as soon as an aid plane took off after delivering survival kits including shelter materials to the village. The government of Sudan, for its part, said it was the initiator of the ceasefire and could not turn around and attack a village. The SPLA’s claim of a ceasefire violation is a “continuation of the smear campaign by the rebels,” Al Mansour Bolad said. Whereas Khartoum wants a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire to facilitate dialogue, the SPLA has always adopted a piecemeal approach to further its military positions, he said.