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Nearly 200 civilians wounded in South Sudan tribal clashes

Iran Press TV

Mon Jul 15, 2013 4:40PM GMT

Nearly 200 civilians have been injured in violent clashes between rival tribes in South Sudan's largest state, a UN official says.

The UN humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said in a Sunday statement that those who are most critically wounded are being treated in the capital of the volatile Jonglei state.

The ethnic clashes and a military attack on a group of militants in Jonglei have attracted the attention of humanitarian workers who have had little or no access to the area.

Lanzer's statement added that thousands have escaped from clashes in Pibor, which is a county in Jonglei that is at the heart of violence.

The statement also urged all the warring groups to "ensure that aid organizations continue to have impartial, unconditional and unhindered access to civilians in need throughout the state."

Meanwhile, South Sudan's army spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said the Murle and Lou Nuer tribes continually fight over cattle thefts.

Aguer further characterized the clashes as a "communal" issue which cannot be solved through military action.

"The government of South Sudan is struggling to encourage dialogue among the communities," Aguer said.

The South Sudanese military is also fighting with militants led by David Yau Yau in Pibor county.

On May 19, in a battle between the army and militants in Jonglei, nearly 25 people, including four government troops, were killed.

In July 2011, South Sudan voted to break away from Sudan following a two-decade civil war that killed about two million people in the East African country. But the new oil-rich nation, which is one of the least-developed countries in the world, has had to confront ethnic tensions and rebellions of its own.

Yau Yau rebelled against the government in Juba after he was defeated in the elections of April 2010. However, he accepted amnesty in June 2011, a month before South Sudan won independence from Sudan after decades of civil war.

MR/SS