Cattle raids in South Sudan leave more than 70 dead

[News_Editor]

Cattle raids in South Sudan leave more than 70 dead

2012-01-31 02:25:50 GMT+7 (ICT)

JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN (BNO NEWS) -- Cattle raids in a remote region of South Sudan during the weekend have left at least 76 people killed and scores of others injured, officials said on Monday. It is the latest raid in a series of deadly clashes in the newly independent state.

The attack happened on early Saturday morning when an armed group attacked several communities in Tong East County, which is located in remote Warrap State. Few details were available on Monday, but officials said hundreds of cattle were reported to have been stolen during the raid.

Madot Dut Deng, who represents the area in the state legislative, told the Sudan Tribune that state authorities were sending extra police forces to the region. "It caught people unaware. There are neither police nor SPLA forces in this area," he was quoted as saying.

Deng and other government officials said at least 76 people had been killed, although some officials said the death toll was believed to be more than 100. "The incident took place in an area far away from where police forces are deployed in the area," the politician told the media outlet. "Police are in a distance of about three hours walk from where the attack took place."

According to Deng, the communities in the area had earlier been disarmed, leaving them vulnerable to attacks with no security forces nearby. "Our people have been disarmed. They do not have any weapons," he said. "This is why they have been vulnerable to such attacks by the neighboring communities who remained with their weapons."

Hilde Johnson, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative and head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), earlier this month called on the South Sudanese government to hold the perpetrators of violence to account and to deploy more forces to key areas in order to prevent further bloodshed.

Deadly clashes have continued in South Sudan, where cattle raids are a persistent problem. Nearly 50 people were killed earlier this month when armed youths from the community of Murle attacked ethnic Dinkas in Jonglei state. "This is a total destruction. They are destroying everything," a local official said at the time.

In August 2011, at least 600 people were killed and more than 750 others were injured when tribal clashes erupted in Jonglei. The clashes originated between the Murle and Lou Nuer communities following large-scale cattle raids by members of the two groups, leading to the theft of between 26,000 and 30,000 cattle.

South Sudan became the world's newest country when it broke away from Sudan on July 9, 2011, as a culmination of a six-year peace process which began in January 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

More than two million people, most of them civilians who died due to starvation and drought, were killed during the 20-year civil war in Sudan. Although there were hopes that South Sudan secession would lead to peace, violence has continued both on a local level as well as with the Sudanese forces.

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