South Sudan’s opposition has dismissed outright allegations, levelled against it by the governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), that it purposely destroyed key oil facilities in the oil producing Unity state, labeling them as little more than propaganda aimed at defacing its image.

Information Minister Michal Makuei last week accused the rebels – now locked in a 13-month long battle with government forces – of attacking the oil facility in Pariang County in Unity state, before setting it on fire. Pariang, on the border with Sudan, is where the majority of the state’s oil production is normally pooled, before being sent to the country’s main processing centers in Heglig, and on to the Red Sea terminal of Port Sudan for export. (CONTINUED - 725 WORDS)