South Sudan: UN defends role in Pibor ethnic clashes

Lise Grande
the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for South Sudan

South Sudan: UN defends role in Pibor ethnic clashes

The UN has defended the role of its peacekeepers and South Sudan government soldiers after deadly ethnic clashes near Pibor town in Jonglei state.

Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in the region, said the town had been successfully defended from about 6,000 Lou Nuer fighters.
Tens of thousands of town residents, members of the rival Murle community, have sought safety in the bush.

Ms Grande said "a major humanitarian operation" was now a priority.
This is the latest round in a cycle of violence which has lasted several months. In one incident last year about 600 ethnic Lou Nuer were killed.

The clashes began as cattle raids, but have spiraled out of control.

John Boloch of South Sudan's Peace and Reconciliation Commission said that at least 150 people, mostly women and children, had been killed since the Lou Nuer fighters arrived in the vicinity of Pibor on Saturday.

Ms Grande said she had visited Pibor on Tuesday and that "hundreds if not thousands" of people had begun to return to the town after about a week in the bush.

We've been evacuating civilians and we've been helping to deter violence. The UN has done its job” UN envoy Lise Grande said.

According to her, "The humanitarian situation is pretty grim,"
"They've been without food; they've been without water, without shelter."
She said the "the main body of the Lou Nuer youth" who had been outside Pibor had started move in a north-easterly direction and were now 15km from the town.

Response to criticism

She rejected criticism of the UN and the South Sudan army - the SPLA - of not having done enough to help civilians, many of whom reportedly faced attack when they fled the town.

"What the United Nations mission has been doing is helping the government to defend the town, we've been rescuing civilians, we've been evacuating civilians and we've been helping to deter violence. The UN has done its job," she said.

She said an attack on the town's southern flank had been repulsed after the SPLA, backed by UN armoured personnel carriers, had fired at the Lou Nuer.

Ms Grande said that besides the looting of a Medecins Sans Frontieres clinic, the town had not suffered much damage and the government has begun to deploy 3,000 extra soldiers and 800 police officers to the area.

Earlier, Mr Boloch, from the Murle community, said people who had fled Pibor had since been hunted down and killed near the River Kengen, south-east of the town.
He accused local politicians of exacerbating the long-standing rivalries for their own ends and also asked why UN peacekeepers and the army were protecting government buildings in Pibor, rather than people.

Common tribal clashes

Cattle vendettas are common in South Sudan, as are other ethnic and tribal clashes.
The UN says about 350,000 people were displaced because of inter communal violence last year.

This presents a major challenge to the government of the newly independent state, which also faces cross-border tensions with its northern neighbour Sudan.

South Sudan is one of the world's poorest regions; it gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 and has hardly any roads, railways, schools or clinics following two decades of conflict, which have left it awash with weapons.

The Lou Nuer fighters arrived in Pibor on Saturday after marching through Jonglei state in recent weeks, setting fire to homes and seizing livestock.

Town burnt

The entire town of Lukangol was burnt to the ground last week. About 20,000 civilians managed to flee before the attack, but dozens were killed on both sides.
The governor of Jonglei state and the vice-president of South Sudan have been trying to mediate between the rival ethnic groups.

BBC/Cokey