The Sudanese Border Conflict Continues Prompting Fears of War

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has ruled out talks with South Sudan on the simmering border conflict that has prompted fears of all-out war.

He was speaking during a visit to the major oil field and border town of Heglig, which was occupied by South Sudanese troops nearly two weeks ago.

South Sudan says it has withdrawn from Heglig, but Sudan says its army forced them out, killing 1,000 soldiers.

Earlier, Sudanese jets bombed a border area in South Sudan.

Journalist Hannah McNeish is near the South Sudanese city of Bentiu. She found herself caught in the midst of the air raid.

Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

Marco Werman: In his speech today, President Obama spoke about the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. He said the people of both nations deserve peace. What they’re getting instead is closer to war. Sudan and South Sudan have been inching towards conflict since the South became independent last summer. The fighting has intensified recently over disputed oil-rich territories along the border. But today, Sudan used war planes to bomb a market, inside South Sudan. Officials in the South said that amount to a declaration of war by the North. Journalist Hannah McNeish is near the South Sudanese city of Bentiu. She found herself in the midst of the air raid today.

Hannah McNeish: We were driving across a bridge that linked the state capital Bentiu to a place called Rook Corner today, where the Southern Army barracks were, and we heard gunfire in the air a whooshing sound, and we pulled over, we lay on the ground, the gunfire kept coming, and then we saw two fighter jets bomb either side of the bridge about 50 meters away from us. The gunfire continued, and then we heard another bomb and saw a big plume of grey smoke in the distance, and we drove towards that, went to see what has happened, and it seems that, a bomb had been dropped on a market, completely destroying three stalls. While we were there, men were carrying out a little boy who had been charred, burnt to death by the impact. He was frozen into a position, and had died instantly. The hospitals say that another person later died in Bentiu hospital. And there are two other people who are critically wounded who they don’t think will survive. And this afternoon, there were about ten other people who were injured by the bombs.

Werman: Now just to be clear Hannah, the city of Bentiu where you are right now, it’s not an area disputed by Sudan and South Sudan, is it?

McNeish: Definitely not. This is an area that is deep within South Sudan. South Sudan claims that Sudan bombed this area less than two weeks ago. And that was the first attack on a big [town?] deep into South Sudan since the end of a 22 year civil war in 2005. So it was major then, and today, it seems that the bombing has not stopped.

Werman: Can you give us an estimate of how many miles Bentiu is from the border between Sudan and South Sudan, where skirmishes are pretty regular right now.

McNeish: It is at least two hours drive along a bumpy road from the border, where the two sides have been fighting.

Werman: Was Sudan do you think targeting civilians, or were they targeting military areas nearby?

McNeish: Sudan has already targeted this bridge once, in a recent attack. And these bombs fell very close to the bridge, so I think the plan was to cut off access for southern troops. Many many southern troops who are stationed here in Bentiu and are being sent up to the front line. The attack on the market, I really don’t understand the reason for. It was relatively near to a Southern Army base, but really this was an attack on a civilian area. It was a packed market place.

Werman: Hannah, is it clear to you, is it clear to the South Sudanese where you are, what’s coming next in this apparent escalation of fighting and tension?

McNeish: Well, no, the army is saying, and the government is saying, we do not want to be pulled back into another war. They are saying that they withdrew their troops from a contested area called Tegleag, that Sudan uses to produce half of its oil, on Sunday, after occupying it for over a week. And now they are saying, look at what’s happened. We withdrew and now we are still being bombed on our own territory. Sudan has refused to come back to the negotiating table with South Sudan. And they say that if Sudan keeps attacking, of course they will have to protect themselves, and they will try and push these forces back.

Werman: And the rhetoric from both Presidents of Sudan and South Sudan sounds more warlike than ever.

McNeish: Well, yes, on Friday when South Sudan said it would pull its troops out of Heglig, before that the war rhetoric had really mounted as well. And I think the international community breathed a sigh of relief when South Sudan said that it had withdrawn and that they hoped it would have a return to talks. Now I think that South Sudan is saying that this is a serious escalation and a serious provocation, and also people on the streets are extremely angry, there is a lot of resentment. They feel that they have bowed to international pressure to take out their troops. And so the mood is very tense in Bentiu. Just a couple of hours ago, there were still the sounds of bomber planes up ahead. And so, nobody really knows what is going to happen next.

Werman: All right Hannah, we’ll leave it there. Thank you very much.

McNeish: Thank you so much.

Werman: That was reporter Hannah McNeish in Bentiu, South Sudan.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

Watch Hannah’s BBC video report.