Sudan government strikes as it announces ceasefire

["SCIO" <SCIO at maf.or.ke> (by way of Enrico Marcandalli <ramalkandy at iol.it>)]

The government of Sudan Thursday (May 24) pelted Tonj in Bahr el Ghazal
region with 14 bombs, as it announced a cessation of air raids on rebel
positions in south Sudan and the Nuba Mountains.

A Catholic priest at Tonj, Fr James Pulickal, said the bomber aircraft
struck in the morning and in the afternoon. 

The morning incident, said the Salesian of Don Bosco priest, occurred at
around 10 a.m as Catholic faithful dispersed after the morning mass. The
bombs fell on the road to Wau near the mission s dispensary and filled
the entire area with smoke and debris.

People scampered in every direction in a desperate attempt to save their
lives, he said

The bomber aircraft returned in the afternoon and dropped more bombs near
Tonj River.

At least two cows were killed in the Thursday incident that came barely a
month since a government bomber raided a Church facility at Narus in
eastern Equatoria near the Kenya border. The April 22 Narus incident
claimed one life and destroyed part of the school run by the Catholic
Diocese of Torit. The head of the see, Bishop Paride Taban, was at Narus
when the incident occurred.

A week earlier, the Bishop of El Obeid in the Nuba Mountains, Max Macram
Gassis, escaped death narrowly when a Khartoum bomber struck the Kauda
airstrip in his see as his plane prepared to take off.

Sudanese minister for information Ghazi Salah Eddin Atabani was quoted by
the country s Suna news agency as saying that the government had decided
to cease air raids effective Friday (May 25) today in pursuance of the
state s set policy for achieving peace and stability, bolstering the
reconciliation process and continued call by the state for a
comprehensive ceasefire.

At least seven people were killed last August when a Russian built
Antonov bomber struck Tonj and the neighbouring town of Mapel. A car
belonging to the Catholic Church had its windscreen shattered.

Fr. Pulickal said the bombing incidents have greatly disrupted live in
Tonj. Every morning from around 10 o clock people have to run to the bush
where they remain till sunset, he said 

He said that they (missionaries) would continue serving the Sudanese for
as long as they remain alive.

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