KHARTOUM – South Sudan’s army (SPLA) accused the north of bombing its territory, violating a 2005 peace deal ahead of the oil-producing region’s impending independence. Sudan’s north-south conflict raged for all but a few years since 1955 claiming 2 million lives in Africa’s longest running civil war. The south voted this year to secede and will become the world’s newest nation on July 9.
SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer said the north dropped bombs on March 21 between a village and an SPLA base causing no casualties in Raja County in Western Bahr al-Ghazal, which borders the north’s war-torn Darfur region. Sudan’s northern army and UN peacekeepers were not immediately able to comment on the report. Last year the north bombed the south while chasing Darfur rebels they said were being supported by the semi-autonomous southern government.
