This Week in South Sudan – Week 44, Part 1

Monday 27 October

• According to a Global Witness report, South Sudan’s first post-independence oil deal with Star Petroleum is high-risk and in urgent need of further scrutiny.
• Fighting erupted again between government forces and rebel troops in Unity State in South Sudan; each side blamed the other for initiating the clash.
• According to a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies,Luke Patey, the Chinese gov. and China National Petroleum Corp. are reviewing their oil relationships with Sudan and South Sudan.
• More than 60 civilians injured in fights at a Protection of Civilians (PoC) site next to the United Nations House on the outskirts of Juba.
• President Salva Kiir accepted to share power with a “non-executive” prime minister appointed by the rebels, however the SPLM-in-Opposition does not agree to this condition.

Tuesday 28 October

• The government of Sudan and South Sudan announced that the common border will reopen in the coming week.
• One person reported dead, and 8 wounded after clashes inside a UN camp in Malakal.

Wednesday 29 October

• While the SPLM-in-Opposition claimed they seized the South Sudan oil hub of Bentiu, the SPLM denied it, leaving the situation unclear.
• International Crisis Group Conflict Alert: looming military offensives in South Sudan.

Thursday 30 October

• UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon issued a statement that strongly condemned the recent flare-up in hostilities between the SPLA and the SPLM-in-Opposition forces in the north.
• South Sudan’s government launched the UN-backed “Children, Not Soldiers” campaign to renew the country’s commitment to end recruitment and use of child soldiers.