Jonglei: 160 airlifted to Bor for treatment as UN gains access to Pibor clashes
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July 14, 2013 (BOR/JUBA) - At least 160 wounded people were flown to
Bor civil hospital in Jonglei on Sunday from Manybol in Pibor county,
after United Nations troops accessed the Nanaam area for the first
time since fighting between rival groups broke out last week.
JPEG - 41 kb
The South Sudan Red Cross carry a man inured in the Pibor fighting to
Bor hospital. 14 July 2013 (ST)
The Jonglei director of the South Sudan Red Cross, David Gai, said the
"majority" of patients were young men from the Lou Nuer tribe who
launched an attack on the area on 7 July.
The fighting has been focused around Nanaam village in Pibor, but due
to the remoteness of the area, the government and UN have not been
able to provide details about the clash.
South Sudan’s army says that the area has been occupied by rebels
loyal to David Yauyau, who has led on and off rebellion in Pibor since
2010.
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David Gai, the director of the South Sudan Red Cross in Jonglei state,
speaks about the 160 injured who have been transported to Bor
hospital. 14 July 2013 (ST)
Gai said the South Sudan Red Cross could not avail the total number of
people injured in the fighting, but said they had transported 160
wounded people to hospital for treatment.
Medicine Sans Frontiers (MSF), the UN’s World Health Organisation
(WHO) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent in a
team of doctors to Bor hospital to help treat the wounded.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) released a
statement on Sunday putting the total number of people injured at more
than 200 after Nepali peacekeeping troops managed to enter Manybol.
UN and WHO sources, however, say they witnessed Lou Nuer youth
guarding cattle around Manybol, not far from the SPLA camp.
There are no clear details about how many people have died in the
fighting, but one of the injured Lou-Nuer victims Sudan Tribune
interviewed at the hospital admitted they attacked Murle areas of
Pibor in response to the killing of children, women and elderly in
cattle raids in the Walgak area in February 2013.
JPEG - 29.4 kb
Chuol Ruac, who was part of the Luo Nuer group who attacked Pibor,
speaking to the press at Bor hospital. July 14, 2013 (ST)
The attack in February, which killed 114 civilians and 14 SPLA
soldiers, occurred while Luo Nuer civilians were migrating towards
Ulang in Upper Nile in search for water and pasture for their cattle.
Chuol Ruac further said his community was attacked again on 4 July by
Murle cattle herders, who allgedly stole some heads of cattle, killing
some people in the process.
The attacks on Pibor over the last week were in retaliation to what
happened, he stressed.
"This year, while we were taking our cattle, children, women and
elderly to Ulang county to access water there, in Upper Nile, on our
way we meet them [Murle], they killed the children and women and even
the elderly ones. That was why we went this time", Ruac told reporters
at Bor hospital.
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A wounded man arrives in Bor after being evacuated by the UN from the
fighting in Pibor. 14 July 2013 (ST)
He said they killed many people in the places they passed, but
declined to give figures. He however admitted that 15 Luo Nuer men
died in the fighting.
The leader of the group which attacked Pibor was, Bordua Leer, he
said, adding that contrary to previous reports from the Luo Nuer
community in Bor, self-proclaimed prophet Dak Kueth had not been
involved in the attack.
In Tangnyang, where the Lou Nuer began their attack, Ruac said that
they captured a large number machine guns and other weapons after
heavy fighting with forces loyal to rebel leader David Yauyau.
SOUTH SUDAN TRYING TO CONTAIN FIGHTING
South Sudan’s defence minister, John Kong Nyuon, assured the
population that government was exerting efforts to ensure the two
sides are separated through cooperation and involvement of key leaders
from the Luo Nuer and Murle communities.
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South Sudan’s defence minister, John Kong Nyuon (Reuters)
Minister Nyuon was speaking at a meeting with Murle community leaders
during which he called on the communities to listen to the government
and allow opportunities to identify and settle their differences.
“We will do the needful as [a] government to protect civilians and
their properties. We call on them (civilian population) to move to the
areas where SPLA will provide protection. We are also talking to the
leaders from the two sides to talk to their youth to stop taking
unilateral decision and listen to the government”, Nyuon said in a
statement state-owned SSTV Saturday.
His deputy, Majak D’ Agoot also said the government was talking to
leaders and elders from the two communities to reach out to their
youth and separate them.
“There are no details of the clashes at the moment but a lot of
efforts are being exerted to contain the situation. We are talking to
leaders and people who have a say in Jonglei affairs to intervene
immediately. We are looking at how we can come out of this security
challenges in Jonglei”, D’ Agoot said.
Murle community elder, Ismail Konyi, said the meeting with the
minister of defence and his team was to explore ways to control the
current situation and chat a way forward in resolving differences
between the two sides.
Konyi was unable to give details of the clashes, but said the
government needed to do more to stop the violence.
“It is the high time all efforts and acts are put together to avert
this situation from deteriorating further. The government and the
partners need to come together to chart way forward to resolve this
conflict,” he urged.
UN GAIN ACCESS TO PIBOR
The UN mission said Sunday it had gained access to areas of Pibor
county where civilians had previously been unable to access
humanitarian assistance.
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United Nations troops carry a wounded man at Bor airport. 14 July 2013 (ST)
“Today aid agencies reached for the first time this year areas of
Pibor County, Jonglei, where thousands of civilians have been hiding
in the bush following clashes between state and non-state actors," the
UN statement reads in part.
Non-governmental organisations and UN agencies have met communities
near Dorain, Fertait & Labrab to assess their needs and mount a
humanitarian response, including urgently needed medical attention, in
addition to ongoing programmes in other parts of the state, it adds.
Toby Lanzer, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, said an
armed mobilisation of youth has led to clashes elsewhere in Pibor
county.
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Injured people from the clashes in Pibor county being treated at Bor
hospital. 14 July 2013 (ST)
“Some 200 casualties have arrived in Manyabol and are being attended
to by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The UN,
including its Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) and World Health
Organization, is accessing Manyabol and evacuating the most critically
injured to Bor where medical personnel from non-governmental
organisations are ready to treat the wounded,” said Lanzer.
He however urged government, national, local and traditional leaders
of all communities in Jonglei urgently to halt the cycle of violence
that is leading to senseless loss of life and suffering amongst
civilians.
"At the same time, all parties partaking in violence must ensure that
aid organizations continue to have impartial, unconditional and
unhindered access to civilians in need throughout the state," said the
UN humanitarian chief.
(ST)
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