South Sudan bombed by Muslim north, Boy killed

Tensions between Sudan and South Sudan have been rapidly increasing over the last few months. South Sudan, which isn't even one year old, is led by a devout Christian man named Salva Kiir. To the north, Sudan is run by the Muslim Brotherhood's Omar al-Bashir. South Sudan, which holds the majority of the oil reserves between the two countries, shut off the spigot going to the Port of Sudan, saying that Bashir's men were stealing much of it.

South Sudan then took control of the Heglig region - just north of its border with Sudan - after saying that Bashir's SLA was launching attacks from there. Naturally, Bashir painted South Sudan's actions as aggressive and threatened to declare war. Kiir's SPLA pulled out of Heglig to prevent war and Bashir exploited the situation, saying that his forces drove the SPLA out of Heglig.

Two very significant events transpired this weekend. First, a Catholic church in Khartoum, was torched by a Muslim Mob. Via the AP:

A Muslim mob has set ablaze a Catholic church frequented by Southern Sudanese in the capital Khartoum, witnesses and media reports said on Sunday.

The church in Khartoum's Al-Jiraif district was built on a disputed plot of land but the Saturday night incident appeared to be part of the fallout from ongoing hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan over control of an oil town on their ill-defined border.

Last week, South Sudanese troops seized Heglig, which the southerners call Panthou, sending Sudanese troops fleeing. The Khartoum government later claimed to have regained the town.

One day later, Bashir's forces bombed the capital city of Unity State (Bentiu), which sits just south of the border that separates the two countries.

Via Sudan Tribune:

Sudan Armed Force (SAF) warplanes carried out an intensive bombardment of the Unity state capital town of Bentiu and neighboring Rubkotna, Sudan Tribune reporter says.

The attacks by Mig 29 fighters started at 8:50 am.

A Reuters reporters at the scene, outside the oil town of Bentiu, said he saw a fighter aircraft drop two bombs near a river bridge between Bentiu and Rubkona.

"I can see market stalls burning in Rubkona in the background and the body of a small child burning," he said.

Presumably, this is a photo of the dead boy.

More photos here.