Clashes in southern Sudan

2009-10-03 09:38

Juba, Sudan - Fighting broke out on Friday in an oil-rich area of southern Sudan between forces loyal to an ex-warlord and the state's governor, with as many as 12 people killed according to officials.

The fighting in Unity State resulted from a "misunderstanding between Paulino Matip's guards and the guards of the governor," the information minister for the government of southern Sudan, Paul Mayom, told the media.

Unity State, which provides an estimated 80% of all the oil currently drilled in the south, was the scene of persistent attacks in early 2008 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, the former southern rebel force that is now the southern Sudanese army.

Matip, a notoriously effective northern commander during the 1983-2005 civil war that claimed some two million lives, was integrated into the new southern Sudanese armed forces after the fighting ended.

He is now the deputy commander-in-chief of southern Sudanese forces and has a loyal following of troops.
But by Friday evening, Mayom said the situation was "under control".

Military sources said a number of people had been killed in the clashes, while officials in Unity State put the number of dead at 12.

- AFP