On Monday, rebels in Sudan accused Khartoum of killing thirty people and injuring dozens of others when its war planes bombed villages in three regions in the south of the country during the weekend.
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said in a statement that Antonov and MIG-29 jet fighters and a helicopter gun-ship dropped bombs in the Western Equatoria, Central Upper Nile and Northern Bhar al-Ghazal regions on Friday and Saturday, according to AFP.
Seventeen people died when a displaced people's camp at Amadi in Mundri county of Western Equatoria was bombed on Saturday. The dead included an entire family - - Mamer Mum was killed along with his wife, seven children and his 80-year-old mother, SPLA's Nairobi-based spokesman Samson Kwaje said in the statement.
Four people were killed when the village of Wonrok and the Mon relief center in Twic county in Northern Bhar al-Ghazal region, were bombed. Amongst the dead were two boys aged 13 and three, according to the SPLA statement.
A family of nine perished when a bomb fell on their home as they slept in Atar in Western Upper Nile's Abyei county. A total of 14 bombs were dropped in the area, the SPLA said.
Over 300 heads of livestock were also killed during the raids, according to the statement. On Thursday, an Antonov and a helicopter gun-ship bombed and destroyed several villages around Bor town, the SPLA said.
"These attacks are absolutely unjustified since they are on non-military targets," the statement added. Khartoum withdrew earlier this month from peace talks with the SPLA held in Machakos, in protest at the SPLA's capture of the garrison town of Torit. Ever since, the SPLA has accused Khartoum of stepping up its attacks on the south.
Torit, which fell to the SPLA on September 1, is one of the key towns in Eastern Equatoria province, along with Kapoeta, which was seized by the rebels in early June after intense fighting. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)