Urgent Prayer: South Sudan

Please be in prayer for the Christians and for SP staff in this area. I am not sure of the current developments but SP does work here and I know some of the staff there. It is not to far from the main base in Yei.



Uganda rebel attack in Sudan displaces hundreds

Wednesday 6 February 2008 04:30.

February 5, 2008 (JUBA) — More than 300 people have been displaced by an attack near Sudan’s border with Uganda in which dozens were abducted, the top U.N. official in southern Sudan said Tuesday.

David Gressly told journalists 40 people were kidnapped in the Jan. 30 attack in Kajo Keji in Central Equatoria State, less than 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the border.

Four members of south Sudan security forces were also killed in the attack, with reinforcements dispatched to the isolated region, southern officials said.

"There is an ongoing looting in the area," Gressly said, adding that some of those abducted had been released but that fear had kept those displaced people from going home.

Local government officials suspect Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army rebels were behind the attack, with the state parliament speaker on Monday calling for the suspension of Sudan-hosted Ugandan peace talks over the attack.

The attack happened on the same day the Ugandan government and LRA rebels agreed to extend a ceasefire for one month, paving the way for the resumption of stalled peace talks in the southern capital Juba.

Central Equatoria parliament speaker Zamba Duku said the attackers were believed to be LRA because there are no other military groups in the area.

The leader of the LRA delegation to the peace talks, David Matsanga, last week said the rebels were not responsible as they were 500 kilometres (310 miles) away from the area that was attacked.

"We are not sure that the attack was by the LRA," Gressly said.

Asked if the U.N. had any leads as to what could be unfolding, Gressly said: "Frankly, we don’t understand what’s happening."