Sudão: On the run again

Photo: Tim McKulka/UNMIS

Internally displaced persons in Sudan: Inter-ethnic fighting in the Upper Nile State has displaced thousands of civilians - file photo

NAIROBI, 14 May 2009 (IRIN) - Thousands of civilians have fled inter-ethnic fighting in Southern Sudan's Upper Nile State, with at least 1,000 on the outskirts of Nasir town, the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said.

The fighting in Torkech village, in Jikmir Payam, Nasir County, on 8 May involved the Lou-Nuer and Jikany-Nuer communities. According to the UN Office in Southern Sudan, 66 people died, including some who drowned as they fled across a river.

Sources in the Southern Sudanese capital of Juba said the clashes erupted after a group of Lou-Nuer, who were moving with a large number of cattle, came under attack, prompting retaliation against the Jikany-Nuer.

The UN warned of possible retaliatory attacks in neighbouring Ulang County, part of which is home to the same ethnic groups fighting in Torkech.

"We call upon community leaders, and all relevant authorities, to intervene and resolve the conflict through peaceful means and reconciliation," Lise Grande, UN Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Southern Sudan, said in a statement.

MSF, which runs a hospital in Nasir, 20km from Torkech, said 57 wounded people, mainly women and children, had been treated by 12 May. It was supported by a mobile surgical team from the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Southern Sudanese Vice-President Riek Machar told the UN Radio Miraya that forces from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had been sent to Upper Nile as well as Central Equatoria and Jonglei to quell rising inter-ethnic violence.

"This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every community," Machar's office said in a statement.

A reconciliation meeting, he added, was being organised in Unity State this week to bring together about 1,000 chiefs from communities affected by recent violence.

Aid interrupted

In April, armed Murle fighters attacked Lou-Nuer villages in Akobo and according to county commissioner Doyak Chol, as many as 300 were feared killed. The fighting was the second incident between the two groups in a month, after about 750 were killed in Pibor County, farther south.

The violence, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned, slowed down the repatriation of displaced civilians and affected aid delivery.

Miraya reported that a reconciliation meeting held two weeks ago to resolve that conflict had calmed the situation in Akobo and Pibor counties of Jonglei State.

On 13 May, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said it would temporarily deploy about 120 civilian, military and police personnel to Akobo and Pibor. UNMIS would also assist local communities to restart dialogue to prevent further violence and address the underlying causes of conflict in Jonglei.

Clashes between rival communities in Southern Sudan break out frequently - some sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources, others in retaliation for previous attacks, aid workers say.

"Inter-ethnic clashes are a very common phenomenon in Southern Sudan," Jim Ocitti, spokesman in the office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Southern Sudan, told IRIN on 13 May.

According to UN estimates, 187,000 people were displaced by ethnic and armed conflict in Southern Sudan between January and November 2008. Attacks by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army in West and Central Equatoria also affected 100,000 people.

Globally, Sudan remains the country with most displaced people, at 4.9 million, despite the fact that the number of displaced fell in Africa in 2008 by 9 percent, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.