South Sudan attacks 'leave 500 dead' Skip to main content

South Sudan attacks 'leave 500 dead'

A man herds cattle in Bahr Al Ghazal, now in Southern Sudan (file image) Some officials say the violence began over cattle raids

Sudan: Coping with divorce

At least 500 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the eastern state of Jonglei, according to the South Sudanese authorities.
A senior official told the BBC hundreds of people had been wounded and more than 200 abducted, mainly children.
The clashes took place on Thursday when members of the Murle group are said to have attacked the majority Lou Nuer, stealing nearly 40,000 cattle.
Jonglei is one of the newly-independent country's least safe areas.
The fighting took place, according to several sources including the state governor, when young Murle men attacked several locations inhabited by the Lou Nuer in and around the town of Pieri. Much of the town has apparently been burnt down.
The Murle were apparently seeking revenge for a recent attack by the Lou Nuer.
Security challenges The state's minister for law enforcement, Gabriel Duot Lam, also said an estimated 38,000 cows had been stolen by the Murle.
Earlier, state governor Kuol Manyang told the BBC the attack was a cattle raid, and a consequence of poverty and competition over resources.
"People need cattle for their own survival, for food security and for marriages - and there is competition over land and water resources, because of underdevelopment," said Mr Manyang.
The BBC's James Copnall, in the Sudanese capital Khartoum, says cattle rustling frequently leads to bloody clashes in the state and elsewhere in South Sudan.
The attack is the latest in a string of deadly incidents between the Murle and the Lou Nuer. Hundreds of people die in inter-ethnic clashes in Jonglei each year.
The Murle are often accused of stealing children, allegedly because they do not have many of their own.
South Sudan has been independent for just over a month, and faces serious security challenges, particularly in Jonglei.
Many civilians are armed and the poor roads make it difficult for the security forces to move around the state.
But a representative of the Lou Nuer community has expressed his anger, saying the government of South Sudan was failing to provide security for its people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14595368
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl
Post a Comment
Read more

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning
Post a Comment
Read more

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do
1 comment
Read more