Helicopter crew ‘safe’ in Yida camp, South Sudan

The six Bulgarian World Food Programme (WFP) staff members taken captive by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan on Monday, have been released. They were handed over to UN officials of the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan this morning.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry confirmed today to AFP that the six arrived at “a safe place”, reporting that the “operation was carried out in coordination between the Bulgarian government and the WFP”, without adding details. A WFP spokeswoman stated that the helicopter crew returned safely to South Sudan.

In a press statement today, the chairwoman of the New Sudan Women's League of the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan’s Unity state, Husna El Nur, said: “We are pleased to announce that the leadership of the SPLM-N and the Civilian Administration in the Liberated Areas have responded to our initiative, and we have this morning handed the pilots and the WFP team to the headquarters of Yida Refugee Camp.”

Last Monday, an anti-aircraft unit of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) forced a helicopter to land in a rebel-controlled area, east of South Kordofan’s capital of Kadugli.

Mubarak Ardol, spokesman for the SPLM-N, reported in a press statement on Monday afternoon that “the six members of the helicopter team who claim to be working with the WFP are safe and unhurt. If it turns out that they are indeed WFP staff, and are not related to the Sudanese government, the SPLM-N is ready to release them immediately.”