From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jun 14 2009 - 14:50:47 EDT
South Sudan river ambush kills at least 40-official
Sun Jun 14, 2009 12:26pm GMT
* Tribal fighters ambush U.N. food barges
* Fears grow for thousands of hungry people
* Violence threatens fragile peace after 2005 accord
* Concern over possible retaliation
(Adds U.N. source on fears of retaliation)
By Andrew Heavens
KHARTOUM, June 14 (Reuters) - At least 40 south Sudanese soldiers and
civilians were killed when tribal fighters ambushed boats carrying U.N. food
aid, the latest in a string of ethnic attacks threatening a fragile peace
deal, officials said on Sunday.
Members of the Jikany Nuer group opened fire on 27 boats loaded with
emergency rations destined for an area controlled by the rival Lou Nuer
tribe on Friday, the U.N. World Food Programme said.
Hundreds have been killed and more than 135,000 displaced in south Sudan in
2009 in a surge of tribal killings rooted in long-standing feuds over cattle
but aggravated by political discontent and weapons left over from two
decades of civil war.
One U.N. source said Friday's attack was thought to be the first time south
Sudanese soldiers had suffered significant casualties in the tribal clashes.
"The environment is extremely volatile. There are signs the Lou Nuer may be
gearing up for retaliatory attacks," said the source, speaking on condition
of anonymity.
The minister of information for Upper Nile State Thon Mom said Friday's
attack killed at least 40 people including troops from the south's Sudan
People's Liberation Army (SPLA) escorting the convoy south on the river
Sobat to the town of Akobo.
"Women and children who were on the boats were also killed, either directly
by bullets or by drowning after jumping into the river," said SPLA spokesman
Malaak Ayuen Ajok.
He said the Jikany Nuer fighters had demanded to search some of the barges,
south of the settlement of Nasir, suspecting they were carrying arms and
ammunition to their Lou Nuer enemy.
They searched one, finding only sorghum and other rations, but opened fire
when the rest of the convoy continued on its journey, he added.
Both Ajok and Mom said they were awaiting detailed information on the
attack. "It could be less than 40 killed. It could be more. We should find
out later today," said Ajok.
INNOCENT SUFFER
The United Nations said there were fears for the fate of thousands of
displaced people in and around Akobo now left without food aid after the
attack.
"There are people who are desperately in need of food," said the WFP's
programme director in south Sudan Michelle Iseminger. "As always, it is the
elderly, the women and the children who are most in need."
The WFP flew in an emergency delivery of 10 metric tonnes of food aid on
Saturday, she added, short of the 735 metric tonnes that were either
destroyed or looted from the boats.
"This year there have been roughly 135,000 people displaced by the violence.
This time last year it was about half that number, and the year before even
less," Iseminger said.
"Things are definitely getting worse and it is mostly the innocent who are
suffering."
Heavy rains in Sudan's semi-autonomous south have wiped out roads and left
the Sobat river, a tributary of the White Nile, the only viable route for
large deliveries of food aid.
Analysts say the rise in tribal violence threatens the fragile peace in the
region achieved after a 2005 accord ended more than two decades of
north-south civil war.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement promised national elections, due in
February 2010, and a referendum on southern secession in 2011. But many in
the south are frustrated by the continuing lack of development and
stagnation in the region's oil-fuelled economy. (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----