4 October 2011, Sweetcrude, Khartoum – A Chinese oil worker has been killed and another wounded by unidentified gunmen in South Kordofan, Sudan’s only oil producing state where the army is battling insurgents, the Chinese embassy has said.
“There was a violent incident against Chinese workers by unidentified armed men, which caused one death and one wounded,” an embassy spokesman told Agence France Press, adding that the attack took place last Wednesday.
He said the embassy had raised its concerns with the Sudanese government, urging action to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals.
South Kordofan has witnessed heavy fighting since June between the Sudanese army and Nuba militiamen loyal to the SPLM-North, with which Darfur’s main rebels movements has formed an alliance aimed at toppling the regime in Sudan.
This was not the first time Chinese workers have been targeted in the volatile, ethnically-divided state, which borders Darfur and the newly independent south.
Five Chinese oil workers were killed in 2008 after being abducted in the Kordofan region in 2008, with officials in Khartoum blaming Darfur rebels at the time, AFP reported.
