3 killed in missile south Kordofan, Sudan attack

Three people were killed and eight others injured during a missile attack in South Kordofan, Sudan Friday morning, according to sources. The source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Arab Today that the strike targeted several areas in the Kadugli city, including the UNISFA building, killing an Ethiopian UN worker, and wounded two others. The strike also killed two civilians and wounded a further six. According to the source, the strike hit the Minister of Education, Yusuf Badri’s house, who told Arabstoday in a brief statement that the strike only the destroyed the roof. On Thursday, the Sudanese government and rebels accused each other of blowing-up a pipeline in the disputed region of Abyei bordering South Sudan. The explosion took place in the Ragaba area within the territory in the evening. The ensuing fire raged for hours. Shadia Arabi, spokeswoman for the Sudan Ministry of Petroleum, confirmed that a pipeline was cut somewhere between Diffra and Heglig. This stretch is not the main north-south line but rather a tie-in line running from east to west. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were blamed for the explosion by army spokesman Colonel Al Sawarmi Khaled, according to remarks carried by state media on Thursday night. He said the saboteurs “came from Unity State in South Sudan”. Col Al Sawarmi alleged that “the rebels received technical support from the army of South Sudan in order to carry out the attack,” identifying the location of the blast as Ajaja in northern Abyei. However, this was sharply denied by JEM spokesman Jibril Adam Bilal. He denied any link between his movement and the government of South Sudan and he added that there were “no JEM forces present in the Abyei area”.