Clashes in Warrap leave 10 dead, SPLA intervenes
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August 17, 2011 (JUBA)- At least 10 people have been confirmed dead
and several others are reported to have sustained severe injuries in a
clash involving two ethnic groups in Tonj East county, Warrap state.
JPEG - 23.7 kb
Cattle in Tonj East, Warrap state (Guardian)
Warrap has long been plagued by internal conflict, often involving
cattle. Reports from local officials indicate thirteen people were
injured, four of whom are said to be in a critical condition.
The cause of the clash remains unclear, although local officials
attributed it to a long-standing dispute between the Luackoth and Akok
communities of Tonj East.
The resumption of the feud was allegedly triggered by a conflict over
the non-payment of bride wealth.
“They cannot have it both ways. Hold the girl as wife and refuse to
pay. This is insolence in our culture and it is unacceptable,” Deng
Acuil Wol, a native of Tonj East county from the Akok community, told
Sudan Tribune from the state capital, Kuajok.
He said the fighting began on August 13 and continued until August 14,
when the state government called upon forces of the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA) in another village to intervene.
Wol said that, as well as the deaths and casualties, crops have been
damaged and many residents have fled into neighbouring Tonj North.
There have been suggestions that the increase in instances of cattle
rustling in South Sudan is connected to an increase in bride prices,
as a result of an influx of eligible bachelors, since the end of the
civil war in 2005 and the declaration of South Sudan’s independence
this year; returning to their homes and intending to get married.
There is also a proliferation of small arms in South Sudan which means
that disputes can quickly escalate to bloodshed.
Ariec Mayar Ariec and Deng Mayom, both members of Warrap Legislative
Assembly, confirmed that the clashes and the intervention of the SPLA
occurred, to Sudan Tribune on August 17.
Among those wounded, said Mayom, were nine members of the Luackoth
community, who are in a critical condition, and four from the Akok
community.
Dut Akuocwel, a member of the Luackoth community from Tonj East
described reports that the fighting was instigated by bride wealth as
“engineered by individual politicians I know here in Juba”, describing
it as "purely a sectional fight".
Akuocwel claimed that the clashes were orchestrated in an attempt to
discredit members of his community who have close ties to the
president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir. He said he has submitted a
petition on the matter to Kiir.
He said the state assembly was informed by Governor Nyandeng Malek,
that a company of the SPLA has been dispatched to the area to restore
law and order.
(ST)
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