JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan’s military spokesman said Saturday that Sudanese warplanes bombed a South Sudanese village just two weeks before a U.N.-imposed deadline on peace and oil negotiations between the two nations.
Col. Philip Aguer said Sudanese Antonov planes bombed the village of Rumaker in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state near the border with Sudan early Friday. Aguer said two civilians were slightly injured.
Sudan made several bombing runs into South Sudan earlier in the year, taking the two nations to the brink of war in April, but Friday’s attack is the first bombing reported by South Sudan since early May.
Sudan has denied the bombing the village.
Sudan’s SUNA state news agency quotes government spokesman Omar Dahab as saying Sudanese aircraft targeted only the Darfur rebel Justice and Equality Movement inside Sudan.
He says that Khartoum had warned Juba that the rebel forces were in South Sudan planning operations against Sudan and that the government would strike them if they “infiltrated” the country.
Sudan and South Sudan are engaged in negotiations in Ethiopia over a host of issues, including the separation of their once-unified oil industry and the demarcation of the long, joint border.
Dahab said Saturday that Khartoum is ready to continue direct peace and oil negotiations with South Sudan.
South Sudan peacefully broke away from Sudan last year after an independence vote, but the two sides never resolved the most contentious issues between them. A bloody civil war between them that lasted more than two decades had ended only in 2005.
In January, South Sudan shut down its oil production after accusing Khartoum of stealing oil shipped through Sudanese pipelines for export. Sudan said it had taken the oil in lieu of transit payments for the use of its pipelines.
In April the two sides clashed openly along the north-south border over the disputed oil-rich town of Heglig. Heglig has been controlled by Sudan since the split and is responsible for about half of Sudan’s oil production. But South Sudan claimed it was part of the south and captured it in April. After widespread condemnation, South Sudan said it pulled out. Sudan says its military forced the southern troops out.
After the clashes, the United Nations Security Council issued a resolution in May, calling on the two sides to resume negotiations immediately. They have been in Ethiopia for talks since the resolution, but South Sudan’s Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the recent bombing “is not in the spirit of dialogue.”
The U.N. Security Council resolution includes an Aug. 2deadline resolving all outstanding issues. According to the resolution, the Security Council will consider imposing sanctions if the two sides do not reach a deal.
Information for this article was contributed by Mohamed Osman of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 07/22/2012