Global Arab Network | Sudan – Armed group kills 43 in attack on UN barges

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Sudan – Armed group kills 43 in attack on UN barges

An armed group attacked UN boats delivering food aid in Sudan, 43 south Sudanese soldiers and civilians were killed during the weekend.

Members of the Jikany Nuer tribesmen opened fire on 27 boats loaded with emergency rations destined for an area controlled by the rival Lou Nuer tribe on Friday, the U.N. World Food Programme said.

Hundreds have been killed and more than 135,000 displaced in south Sudan in 2009 in a surge of tribal killings rooted in long-standing feuds over cattle but aggravated by political discontent and weapons left over from two decades of civil war.

One U.N. source said the attack was thought to be the first time south Sudanese soldiers had suffered significant casualties in the tribal clashes.

"The environment is extremely volatile. There are signs the Lou Nuer may be gearing up for retaliatory attacks," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The minister of information for Upper Nile State Thon Mom said the attack killed at least 40 people including troops from the South's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) escorting the convoy south on the river Sobat to the town of Akobo.

"Women and children who were on the boats were also killed, either directly by bullets or by drowning after jumping into the river," said SPLA spokesman Malaak Ayuen Ajok.

He said the Jikany Nuer fighters had demanded to search some of the barges, south of the settlement of Nasir, suspecting they were carrying arms and ammunition to their Lou Nuer enemy.

They searched one, finding only sorghum and other rations, but opened fire when the rest of the convoy continued on its journey, he added.

"There are people who are desperately in need of food," said the WFP's programme director in south Sudan Michelle Iseminger. "As always, it is the elderly, the women and the children who are most in need."

The WFP flew in an emergency delivery of 10 metric tonnes of food aid on Saturday, she added, short of the 735 metric tonnes that were either destroyed or looted from the boats.

"This year there have been roughly 135,000 people displaced by the violence. This time last year it was about half that number, and the year before even less," Iseminger said.

"Things are definitely getting worse and it is mostly the innocent who are suffering."

The attacks follow clashes in May between factions of the Lou Nuer and Jikany ethnic groups, in which at least 66 people were killed according to local officials.

The Sobat river, a tributary of the White Nile, is the only transport route available to channel goods to Akobo during the rainy season, when roads are flooded.

But the river has been closed to traffic since May due to tensions in the area.

The barges were allowed, however, to leave Nassir on Friday after negotiations with high-ranking government officials, escorted by soldiers from the Sudan's People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

The attack was launched some 10-20 miles outside Nassir.

Clashes in southern Sudan between rival ethnic groups break out frequently, some of them sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources. (Reuters, AFP, BBC)

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