Security Council Concerned Over Sudan BombingThe UN Security Council Thursday voiced its concern over rising violence in Sudan where government bombing of rebel-controlled towns has narrowly missed UN operations.In a statement read to the press by the president of the Security Council, Hasmy Agam of Malaysia, said, "Members of the Security Council shared the concern expressed by the secretary-general regarding the recent escalation of violence and, particularly, the repeated aerial bombings around United Nations and other civilian support services." The statement came after the closed-door consultations of the 15-nation body. The Council members have asked the U.N. Secretariat to provide a briefing on the security and humanitarian situation in Sudan, the statement said. At least eight civilians were killed and 200 others wounded in recent bombing strikes on the southern Sudanese towns of Mapel and Tonji, reports said. On August 7, government forces dropped some 18 bombs in the vicinity of UN facilities at Mapel, where a UN relief aircraft that had been cleared by the government for a flight was parked on an airstrip at the time of the raid. These latest bombings caused the temporary suspension of flights for a UN-led relief effort called Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) to allow for a reassessment of the security situation in the northern African country. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and other armed rebel groups have been fighting the Sudanese government for at least 17 years for greater autonomy for the mainly Christian and animist south. An estimated 2 million people have been killed in the conflict and related famine. |
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