Battle of Meiram

Battle for Meiram
Part of the Heglig Crisis
Date 17–18 April 2012 Location Meiram, Sudan Result Indecisive Sudanese claim victory
Belligerents
South Sudan South Sudan People's Liberation Army	Sudan Sudanese Armed Forces
Commanders and leaders
Salva Kiir	Omar al-Bashir Malaak Ayuen
Strength
160	285
Casualties and losses
7 killed [1] (South Sudanese claim)	15 killed[2] (South Sudanese claim)
Total: 22 killed[3]

The Battle for Meiram was an armed confrontation between South Sudanese and Sudanese soldiers in the village of Meiram, situated along the border between both countries. This border incident raised tensions of the possibility of an all-out war between South Sudan and Sudan as fighting spilled over, elsewhere along the border, other than just in Heglig.

Events

The incident began on the night of April 17 when according to Juba a local South Sudanese soldier stationed in the border village was shot dead while getting water from a river that divides the two sides. However Sudanese spokesmen claim the action was intended to create another battle front in the war other than Heglig to distract Sudanese military forces in the region. The shooting sparked a lengthy fire-fight from both sides that lasted the rest of the night. According to both sides 7 South Sudanese were killed in the border clash along with 15 Sudanese.^[4][5][6]

This incident raised tensions between South Sudan and Sudan that the border conflict in Heglig, can spill over to other parts of the Sudanese border like the border village of Meiram. However South Sudanese government spokesmen Barnaba Marial Benjamin said even as border fighting was spilling over in other regions, he labeled the fight as a "misunderstanding" and said he did not think violence would continue there.^[7]

References