Death toll from fighting in Sudan’s Great Lakes rises to 200
Human carnage in the clan fighting in South Sudan has been reported to have reached about 200, while hundreds of others are hospitalised and thousands displaced.
The death toll from inter ethnic fighting in South Sudan’s Great Lakes region last week has reached at least 200, local media reports, even as officials on Tuesday reported 170 deaths.
The crisis, a new source of violence has devastated the country by a four-year civil war which started in 2013. South Sudan is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa that gained independence from the Republic of the Sudan in 2011.
The bloodbath necessitated the country’s president, Salva Kiir to deploy army to the troubled communities to disarm civilians in three restive states.
However, agency report pointed that the lingering clashes in the province’s Malek County broke out after a group of young men from the Ruop ethnic group attacked rival youth from the Pakam group on Wednesday and Thursday.
A member of parliament from the region, Dharuai Mabor Teny updated an earlier death toll of 45. The violence prompted the government to declare a three-month state of emergency in the region and surrounding areas on Monday. The military has also been ordered to deploy troops to calm the unrest.
The UN mission in South Sudan UNMISS said its troops were helping remove roadblocks mounted by the clashing groups in a bid to open up routes for movement and trade.
South Sudan was plunged into war in 2013 after a political disagreement between President Salva Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar escalated into a military confrontation.
The fighting has killed tens of thousands, uprooted about a quarter of the population of 12 million people and left its small, oil-dependent economy moribund.
Violence between rival communities is common in parts of South Sudan, often triggered by quarrels over scarce grazing land and cultural and political grievance
However, President Salva Kiir is said to have ordered the army chiefs to mobilize available resources to enforce a three-month state of emergency in three states. The states in question are Gok, Western and Eastern Lakes.
A statement released on Monday evening authorized the army to use force if armed civilians refused to be disarmed.
The clashes are reported to have often led to the burning of houses and other property. At the heart of the recent deadly clashes is a land dispute. Security forces, however, say security has improved after a recent deployment.
Bonny Amadi with Agency Report
