Kaya, Sudan, Friday
A fresh offensive by Sudan's government army against southern rebels
along the Ugandan border threatens to cut relief supply routes to huge
areas affected by famine, churchmen and aid workers said.
Guerrillas of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in the
frontier town of Kaya said they had been battling to drive back an
advancing force of 5000 government troops for the last week.
Backed by Antonov bombers and MiG fighter planes, government troops
overran the village of Morobo nine miles north of Kaya.
The fresh fighting effectively destroys a truce declared in March to
allow foreign relief groups to get food to tens of thousands of needy
civilians -- the main victims of a civil war which started in 1983.
''Heavy fighting is still
taking place in Morobo. Our intention is to throw the government
forces out of the town,'' SPLA commander Pitia Diliga told reporters who
visited Kaya.
Kaya and Morobo lie along a muddy track that is nevertheless a
strategic artery for relief supplies trucked in from Uganda to the
entire Western Equatoria province, much of which is still held by the
SPLA.
''The government aim is to seal off the border with Uganda,'' said
Kaya's Anglican Bishop Seme Solomona, who fled along with more than
25,000 refugees into Uganda last week.
''Should that happen, many people will starve to death ,'' said Father
Peter Dada, a Catholic priest also from Kaya.
Relief workers estimate that about 500,000 people have died in the war
-- most of them civilians who have fallen victim to starvation -- out of
the south's population of 4,500,000.
who moved out on SPLA orders, took their few belongings and trekked
through thick bush south to the Ugandan town of Arua.
They are now camped in two transit centres in Arua, where United
Nations and other relief groups are distributing food. The Ugandan
authorities have set aside land for them to farm, suggesting they expect
the refugees to stay for some time.
Political analysts expect the government force to swing eastwards and
move on the town of Kajo Kaji if they capture Kaya. If they take Kajo
Kaji, they can move on the frontier town of Nimule which lies on the
eastern banks of the Nile, the last proper supply route for the SPLA and
civilians on the rebel side.
The black and mainly Christian SPLA, which for 10 years has fought the
Arabised Muslim north, split along tribal lines two years ago.
''The split has left SPLA forces weak and strengthened the government
side,'' said Bishop Solomona. -- Reuter.
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