South Sudan Jonglei State Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk has accused the NCP government in Khartoum of supporting rebels fighting the new SPLA administration. Fighting continues despite independence in July., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
January 06, 2012
White House: South Sudan Can Receive US Defense Assistance
VOA News
The White House has declared the government of South Sudan eligible to receive weapons and defense assistance from the United States.
President Barack Obama issued a memorandum Friday saying that the ability to provide defense materials and services to the government of South Sudan is in the national interest of the United States and could promote peace in East Africa. The determination does not constitute a decision to give defense support to the African state.
The announcement came after an outbreak of violence between two South Sudanese tribes that may have left thousands dead and some 50,000 people needing aid.
The United Nations said it has launched a "massive" humanitarian aid operation in South Sudan's Jonglei state, where tribal clashes occurred. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs told VOA Friday the food distribution already has started, and that U.N. agencies are finalizing emergency plans for water, health care, shelter and sanitation.
The violence broke out in Pibor last week when about 6,000 men from the Lou Nuer tribe attacked areas controlled by the rival Murle tribe. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said tens of thousands of people have returned to the town of Pibor now that the fighting has ended.
A local South Sudanese official said Friday the violence killed more than 3,000 villagers, including more than 2,000 women and children. U.N. officials have not confirmed those figures but say at least several dozen people have died.
Government forces have taken control of Pibor and the U.N. has vowed to increase its peacekeeping presence in the area.
Meanwhile, U.N. refugee agency chief Antonio Guterres is scheduled to visit South Sudan's capital, Juba, Saturday to discuss the humanitarian situation there.
The U.N. estimates more than 360,000 people have fled to South Sudan from neighboring Sudan in recent months.
Sudan's government is battling rebels in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states, which border South Sudan. The rebels are believed to support the south, which split from the north in July.
Guterres is also scheduled to visit Sudan Tuesday to discuss humanitarian needs in that country.
The U.N. has asked Sudan to allow foreign aid groups to enter the war-torn states and reach people in need of assistance. Khartoum has denied the request.
The world body cites reports suggesting that food shortages and malnutrition rates have reached "alarming" levels in parts of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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South Sudan conflict prompts UN response
Updated: 14:55,
Saturday January 7, 2012
The United Nations says it is launching a massive humanitarian operation to help an estimated 50,000 people hit by inter-ethnic conflict in South Sudan's Jonglei state.
'The United Nations is launching a massive humanitarian emergency,' said the media spokeswoman for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Elisabeth Byrs on Friday.
The program is aimed at helping thousands of people to return home after clashes between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities, OCHA said.
During the last 72 hours, UN experts have assessed the situation in Pibor Likuangole, Boma and Walgak.
'The needs are great, of course,' Byrs said. 'It is currently estimated that 50,000 people are affected by violence in the region' of South Sudan.
'Thousands of people now need food, water and shelter. Aid agencies are assessing their needs,' Byers added.
'The situation in humanitarian terms is grim,' said UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande via video link.
A top local Sudanese official said more than 3,000 people were killed in brutal massacres last week.
'There have been mass killings, a massacre,' said Joshua Konyi, commissioner for Pibor county in Jonglei state.
'We have been out counting the bodies, and we calculate so far that 2,182 women and children were killed and 959 men died.'
United Nations and South Sudanese army officials have yet to confirm the death tolls and the claims from the remote region could not be independently verified.
If confirmed, the killing of 3,141 people would be the worst outbreak of ethnic violence ever seen in southern Sudan, which became a separate nation after splitting from Khartoum in July.
A column of some 6,000 rampaging armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe last week marched on the remote town of Pibor, home to the rival Murle people, whom they blame for abductions and cattle raiding and have vowed to exterminate.
The Lou Nuer attacked Pibor at the weekend, torching huts and looting a hospital, and only withdrew after government troops moved in.
More than 1,000 children are missing, feared abducted, while tens of thousands of cows were stolen, added Konyi, who is himself an ethnic Murle.
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