SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan has accused Khartoum of using fighter jets to bomb its oil wells, destroying a well head and flow line, just days ahead of the next of floundering post-independence talks
Record ID:
344126
SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan has accused Khartoum of using fighter jets to bomb its oil wells, destroying a well head and flow line, just days ahead of the next of floundering post-independence talks
- Title: SOUTH SUDAN: South Sudan has accused Khartoum of using fighter jets to bomb its oil wells, destroying a well head and flow line, just days ahead of the next of floundering post-independence talks
- Date: 5th March 2012
- Summary: EL NAR OIL FIELD, SOUTH SUDAN (MARCH 03, 2012) (REUTERS) SOUTH SUDAN OIL MINISTRY OFFICIALS CLIMB INTO CRATER MADE BY BOMB VARIOUS OF OIL WELL HEAD DAMAGED BY BOMB SHRAPNEL LOCAL CHILDREN STAND IN FRONT OF A LAKE OIL SEEPS FROM A BROKEN PIPE (SOUNDBITE) (Nuer) EL NAR CHIEF, MIAKOL LUAL, SAYING: "It (the jet) was near. It was not flying at a high altitude. There were two of them." POLICEMAN STANDS IN BOMB CRATER VARIOUS OF OIL MINISTRY OFFICIAL EXAMINING BOMB SHRAPNEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREATER NILE PETROLEUM OPERATING COMPANY VICE PRESIDENT, CHOM JAUJ, SAYING: "The jet fighter dropped five bombs. One fell directly on the pipe, on the well head which was completely destroyed. The other two were far from the well. It's lucky that nobody was injured." VARIOUS OF BROKEN OIL WELL HEAD OOZING OIL ONTO THE GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREATER NILE PETROLEUM OPERATING COMPANY VICE PRESIDENT, CHOM JAUJ, SAYING: "They might be thinking of sending us a message that they have the capability that they can get us, and they can destroy the facilities but the same message could be sent to them because their oil field is not far from the South." BROKEN FLOW LINE AND GAUGE
- Embargoed: 20th March 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Sudan, South Sudan
- Country: South Sudan
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA1U6I43UV1DL0ALDGSZHHPMQK4
- Story Text: South Sudan accused Khartoum of bombing two oil wells in the north of the new nation, witnesses and officials told Reuters Television on Saturday (March 3).
A Sudanese official has denied the allegations.
Relations between Sudan and the South have deteriorated in recent months as talks about border disputes and oil transportation fees have floundered, causing the South to shut down oil production.
Each side has repeatedly blamed the other for flare-ups around the border region.
South Sudan's government spokesman Barnaba Marial Benjamin said two MiG aircraft dropped six bombs on oil fields in Unity State on Wednesday (February 29), violating a non-aggression pact signed by the two countries last month.
A local chief in the area said he saw the planes.
"It was near. It was not flying at a high altitude. There were two of them," El Nar Chief, Miakol Lual, said.
The South Sudanese government said there were no casualties in the attack roughly 74 km (46 miles) from the border.
It destroyed two well-heads and flow lines as well as two cars.
The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a Chinese/ Malaysian/Indian-owned consortium, runs the oil fields that South Sudan said were hit.
A representative from the company said they had found evidence of five bombs.
"The jet fighter dropped five bombs. One fell directly on the pipe, on the well head which was completely destroyed. The other two were far from the well. It's lucky that nobody was injured," Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company Vice President, Chom Jauj, said.
"They might be thinking of sending us a message that they have the capability that they can get us, and they can destroy the facilities but the same message could be sent to them because their oil field is not far from the South," he added.
South Sudan has accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of bombing several areas of its territory since it gained independence in July last year, including two refugee camps.
In Khartoum, Sudan's military spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid said Sudanese forces had not been involved in any bombing inside the south.
South Sudan split from Sudan in July last year, inheriting most of the country's oil production, but the two sides are yet to agree how much Juba should pay to use processing and transport facilities in Sudan. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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