Unity State

US-based Satellite Sentinel Project says it has confirmation of the aerial bombardment of an SPLA military installation in Jau town in Unity State.

The Sentinel Project says that satellite imagery of the Jau taken on 8 September shows a crater, approximately 7 meters in diameter, consistent with aerial bombardment.

At least one more bomb crater was noted north of the village.

Neither crater is visible in July 12, 2013 imagery of the same area.

Sources on the ground corroborate reports that a Sudan Armed Forces jet dropped a bomb in Jau on September 7, 2013.

Major Gen. James Koang Chuol, Commander of the Fourth division of the SPLA reported that a soldier and his wife died, and six people were injured, as a result of the bombardment.

The Satellite Sentinel Project reported that that satellite imagery showed that South Sudanese armed forces maintain three separately secured military installations in the Jau region, all within 4 kilometers of the center line and all within the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone.

The Project said on its website that “continuing to maintain armed forces at these facilities is a clear violation of the two countries’ bilateral agreement to maintain a 20-kilometer wide demilitarized zone along their border”.