Port Sudan, August 31(Darfur 24)
The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday that the Sudanese government may be forced to cease work at the Heglig oil field in South Kordofan State due to security concerns, hours after it was attacked by drones.
A drone bombed Heglig Airport on Saturday, days after a similar attack targeted the oil-rich region.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement obtained by Darfur 24 that “security reasons may force the Sudanese government to take the necessary measures to stop work in the field and evacuate workers from the area to protect their lives.”
The army dominated government condemned the attack on the Heglig oil fields, which it attributed to the Rapid Support Forces.
It noted that the attack resulted in the deaths and injuries of a number of civilians working in the Heglig area.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the Rapid Support Forces went beyond targeting infrastructure and harming national interests to “targeting the interests of the Republic of South Sudan and other foreign companies using the Heglig area to export South Sudan’s oil.”
The Sudanese army controls the military base in Heglig, which is located on the border with the town of Fanakoj, in the Ruweng administrative unit of South Sudan, while the Rapid Support Forces control the locality of Al-Mujlad and are present in Kharasana, the last area north of Heglig.
Dozens of companies operating in the oil and shipping sectors between Sudan and South Sudan operate in Heglig.