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A bombing Raid on Registration Center in South Sudan

   John Tanza Mabusu 24 November 2010
   Residents  of  the remote south central Southern Sudan village of Nyal
   line  up  to  register  their  names at a local school being used as a
   voter registration office, 15 Nov 2010.

Photo: AFP

   Residents  of  the remote south central Southern Sudan village of Nyal
   line  up  to  register  their  names at a local school being used as a
   voter registration office, 15 Nov 2010. (file photo)

   The  spokesman  for the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation Army, Phillip Aguer,
   said  a  plane  belonging to the Sudan Air Force bombed civilians at a
   voter  registration center in Malual County in Northern Barh el Ghazal
   state.   He  claimed  four soldiers and two civilians were wounded in
   the attack.

   Aguer told VOA a helicopter gunship bombed an area along the Kiir Adem
   River  near a southern Sudan Referendum Commission Center where voters
   have  been  registering  for  the  January 9^th referendum on southern
   independence.  He said the two wounded civilians were on their way to
   register to vote in the referendum.

   ââThere is a process of registration for (the) referendum taking place
   in  the  area and â¦the civiliansâ¦wounded today, these are people who
   were  just  moving  along  the  river going to register in their payam
   and  in their counties at Malual North County.ââ

   This is the second time authorities in Southern Sudan have reported an
   attack  by  Sudanese  armed forces in Northern Bahr El Ghazal.  Early
   last  week,  Northern  Bahr  el  Ghazal  Governor Paul Malong said two
   Sudanese  jet  fighters  attacked  a  village  near  the  border  with
   Darfur.  Eight civilians were injured in that attack.

   Aguer  blamed  Sudan  Armed  Forces  (SAF)  for Wedensdayâs attack and
   claimed  the  bombing  is  directed at border points between North and
   South  Sudan.  He said Sudanâs military is trying to discourage people
   from registering for the January referendum.

   ââThis is the border of the South as from 1956 and the Northerners are
   disputing  the  borders andâ¦there is a plan to disrupt the referendum
   and this is the area they access and attack.ââ

   Aguer  stressed that the SPLA is committed to the security arrangement
   in  the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended 21 years of war
   between  the  government in Khartoum and the Sudan Peopleâs Liberation
   Army.

   He  added  that  his  office  will  report  the incident to the United
   Nations  Mission  in  Sudan  for  further  action.  He  called  on the
   international  community to create a suitable environment to allow the
   people  of Southern Sudan exercise their rights to self- determination
   as stipulated in the CPA.

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