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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
SUDAN: Rising tensions reported in areas of Upper Nile
KHARTOUM, 26 Nov 2004 (IRIN) - A build-up of armed militias, government troops and southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) fighters in various areas of the Upper Nile region has raised tensions between local civilians and the armed groups, sources in Malakal told IRIN on Thursday.
According to the sources, clashes had been reported between armed militias in the area of Gualguk, some 130 km northwest of Nasir town close to the oil area of Adar. One person was killed before government authorities intervened to stop the fighting.
Clashes were also reported around Mandeang, across the Sobat River, between 6 and 8 November when armed men believed to be government troops based in Ketbek, near Nasir, shelled villages. The armed men, the sources added, also launched attacks on villages in Duk Padiet, killed a number of people and abducted some children.
Along the Sobat River zone, the sources added, rising tensions had been reported following a recent increase in the presence of armed men from the government, the SPLM/A and various militia groups. The militias included the government-allied Janjawid who were reported to be in some garrisons located along the eastern bank of the White Nile south of Malakal, the sources added.
"The government of Sudan has been building up its forces substantially in Malakal and the SPLM/A is doing the same in the areas they control in the Sobat-corridor," Paul Foreman, head of mission for the medical charity, MSF-Holland, told IRIN in Khartoum on 17 November.
"Given that this region was clearly dealt with in the Naivasha [Kenya] accords, there is no reason for this build-up, but tensions are rising," he added. "There were half a dozen significant clashes over the past month and either side can strike at any time."
The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-Net) warned in a report entitled "Southern Sudan Food Security Watch", issued on Wednesday, that an increased presence of armed men along the Sobat River zone was likely to threaten dry-season food sourcing in the eastern flood plains.
"Insecurity, which limited planting in parts of Shilluk, Latjor, Bieh and Pibor during much of the year, is likely to reduce harvests," FEWS Net said. "Increased militia activities along the Sobat River are raising concerns about heightened tensions between different community groups, especially in Bieh and Latjor areas."
According to FEWS Net, the "militias operate from garrison towns controlled by the government [and] past experience has shown that their presence often leads to inter-ethnic fighting, especially during the dry season when exchange opportunities and access to dry-season grazing and fishing areas are at risk of being disrupted".
FEWS Net also expressed concern about "the likely insecurity associated with the return of 15,000 - 20,000 people and their cattle from Mundri to Bor areas [in the Greenbelt and the Nile Sobat zones, respectively] as they transit through areas of Yirol, Juba and Terekeka."
The returnees fled Bor County in 1991 during inter-factional fighting, which resulted in the displacement and death of thousands of people and cattle, who sought refuge in Western Equatoria state. Those displaced around the Bor area started returning home in July this year, FEWS Net reported.
Early this month, at least three people were killed in clashes between armed Sudanese militias and civilians in an area controlled by the SPLM/A near Nasir. The clashes occurred after a disagreement over territory, the sources added.
In October, the Civilian Protection Monitoring Team, an organisation affiliated with the US State Department, reported that armed groups, including the Sudanese army, military intelligence and various armed militias - purportedly aligned to the government - mistreated civilians on several occasions in the area, especially in Malakal, the headquarters of Upper Nile, where nearly 35,000 displaced persons live.
The Sudanese government and the SPLM/A signed a memorandum of understanding on 19 November in which they agreed to conclude a final peace deal by the close of the year. The agreement was signed during a meeting of the UN Security Council in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
The war in the south erupted in 1983 when the SPLM/A took up arms against authorities based in the north to demand greater autonomy. In May, the government and the SPLM/A signed six key protocols in Naivasha, covering power-sharing arrangements and the administration of three contested areas during a six-year interim period that will precede a referendum to determine whether the south would remain part of Sudan.
[ENDS]
This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004
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