Recent Attack on Sudan Villagers Kills Dozens

By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

JUBA, Sudan – On Sunday, tribesman attacked a south Sudan village, overwhelming the soldiers who were guarding the settlement and killing roughly 72 people.


A group of fighters from the Lou Nuer ethnic group attacked Duk Padiet village, which is inhabited by the Dinka Hol Tribe.  Kuol Diem Kuol, a southern army spokesman, said this was not a raid for cattle and resources, this was a militia attack against security forces.

“They overran our company plus the youth of the village,” he said.

Kuol believes that those who raided his village are the same group of Lou Nuer fighters who attacked the Jonglei village of Wernyol last month killing 40 and wounding 64.

This year alone, more than 1,200 people have been killed in the numerous ethnic clashes that have taken place in the oil-producing region.  Many of the victims have been women and children.  Linked to long-running feuds over cattle rustling, and fueled by a ready supply of guns the conflicts continue to take the lives of many innocent people.

Politicians in Southern Sudan have accused northern Sudan rival tribes of raiding their country side with the intention of spreading instability just before the national elections.  Regardless of any northern interference, southern Sudan is made up of a patchwork of rival ethnic groups who have been fighting over grazing land, cattle, and other resources for some time.

The national election is due next year and southern Sudanese will be voting in a referendum to decide whether to secede from the north in 2011.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Scores killed in South Sudan Clashes: Official – 21 September 2009

BBC – Dozens Die in South Sudan Attack – 21 September 2009

Press TV – Dozens Dead in Separate Sudan Clashes – 21 September 2009

Reuters – Armed Tribesmen Attack South Sudan Villagers, Soldiers – 20 September 2009

Author: Impunity Watch Archive