Tribal conflict
January 5, 2012
Emergency aid is needed by thousands of South Sudanese who have fled ethnic violence in Jonglei state, according to the United Nations.
Fighting broke out last week when a column of 6,000 rampaging armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe marched on the town of Pibor, home to the rival Murle people.
The UN's Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Lise Grande, says the violence has caused tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and has resulted in the destruction of property and livelihoods.
Murle civilians, including many women and children, sought refuge in forests and swamps to avoid attack and had little or no access to food or clean drinking water. They were now returning and were very vulnerable, Grande added.
Gunmen burned thatch huts and looted two clinics run by Doctors Without Borders, the main provider of healthcare for the estimated 160 thousand people in Pibor county. Its local staff were among those forced to flee into the bush.
Grande says the number killed could be "tens, perhaps hundreds," but that figure remains unconfirmed.
Lou Nuer fighters have since begun to return homewards, after the South Sudanese army sent reinforcements and UN peacekeepers beefed up security in the area.
The UN says the violence between the Lou Nuer and Murle was sparked by cattle raids. It raised the alarm in September 2010 by which time the fighting had already left around 1,000 people dead since June.
A group calling itself the Nuer Youth White Army issued a statement in late December vowing to "wipe out the entire Murle tribe…as the only solution to guarantee long-term security of Nuer cattle."
Cattle are a key resource and status symbol in South Sudan. A dowry for a girl aged between 13 and 18 can amount to 40 or even 60 head of cattle.
Deutsche Welle correspondent James Shimanyula explains that Jonglei has a history of strife. "There was an uprising in 1975 involving the so-called Anyanya II rebels and again in 1983 shortly before rebel leader John Garang staged a revolt, which gave birth to the civil war lasting 20 years and finally to the independence we are witnessing now" he said.
Author: Mark Caldwell (afp/dpa/rtr with additional material from James Shimanyula)Editor: Susan Houlton/mik