ConflictBarometer_2012

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
South Sudan
violence)
(inter – ethnic
Intensity: 5 Change:
Start:
2008
South Sudan (various militias)
Intensity:
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
3 Change: 4
Start:
SSPLM/A, SSDM, SSDF, SSLA vs.
government
system / ideology, resources
2010
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Murle vs. Lou Nuer vs. Misseriya vs.
Dinka Gok vs. Dinka Rek vs. Dinka Bor
vs. Bari vs. Fartit
subnational predominance, resources
The war over subnational predominance and resources
between various ethnic groups continued. Violence usually
revolved around cattle raids, abduction, tribal controversies,
and disputes over grazing land and water. At the
very beginning of the year, 6,000-8,000 armed Lou-Nuer
members, the so-called Nuer White Army, assembled in
Pibor County, Jonglei state, after having declared their intention
to wipe out the Murle Tribe. In a series of Lou-Nuer
attacks on Murle villages, 20,000 to 60,000 people were
displaced and 612 killed. The tribes had stood on different
sides in the secession conflict between Sudan and South
Sudan. On January 3, UNMIS deployed peacekeeping troops
to Pibor County and supported the government in deploying
troops and 2,000 policemen to Pibor, Jonglei. The
following day, the government declared a state of emergency
in Jonglei. In multiple revenge attacks between January
5 and 14, Murle members assaulted Lou-Nuer villages
in Duk, Akobo, Uror, and Nyirol Counties, all in Jonglei,
killing 209. On January 16, Murle members attacked Dinkas
in Duk. 300 houses were torched and 83 people killed.
In another Nuer attack on Dinkas in late January, 78 people
died in Warrap state. Eleven people died in early February,
when Murle members attacked Lou-Nuer villages in Akobo.
Another 22 people died in clashes between Dinka Bor and
Murle in Pibor. On March 1, the government started a sixweek
disarmament program in Jonglei State. The following
day, Murle members attacked Lou-Nuer in Nyirol County,
resulting in 30 fatalities. Clashes spread to Juba, the capital
of South Sudan, when fighting between Bari, Dinka, and
Lou-Nuer over land left ten people dead. Between March
9 and 11, 223 people died when Murle attacked Lou-Nuer
members in Upper Nile. Five days later, three people were
killed when Murle attacked a bus in Jonglei. On May 5, President
Salva Kiir attended the signing of a peace deal between
ethnic group leaders in Bor, Jonglei. Four days later,
Murle killed two people in Twic East County, Jonglei. On
October 1, Murle killed a Dinka Bor. Misseriya stole some
100 cows in Abyei on October 24. On November 6, Dinka
killed 23 in Rumbek Central County, Lakes State. Clashes
between Dinka Gok and Dinka Rek on November 30 left 31
dead. In mid-December, some twenty people died in clashes
between Dinka and Fertit in Western Bahr el-Ghazal
State. Four people died in a cattle raid in Twice East County
on December 19. Murle killed seven people in Duk and
an additional two Lou-Nuer in a cattle raid in Jonglei on
December 28.
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The conflict between the government and various militias
over the orientation of the political system and resources
de-escalated from a war to the level of a violent crisis. The
government reached a peace treaty with the SSDM leader Peter
Kuol Chol Awan on February 27, leading to a significant decrease
in rebel activities. While parts of the SSDM rejected this
peace deal, choosing John Olony as their new leader, approx.
1,800 SSDM fighters joined the demobilization and reintegration
process. The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), led by
James Gai Yoach, and factions of SSDM opposing the treaty
continued fighting throughout the year. In the course of rehabilitating
rebel leaders, the government reinstated Peter Gadet,
former leader of the SSLA, allowing him to keep the rank
he had prior to his rebellion. Finally, the South Sudan People
Liberation Movement/ Army (SSPLM/A), a rebel group founded
by Tong Lual Ayat at the end of 2011, announced their reintegration
into the armed forces on May 5. On March 27, SSLA
forces attacked government positions in Lalop, Unity state, followed
by an attack by SSDM forces on government positions in
Kuek, Upper Nile State on April 19. In addition, David Yau Yau,
a militia leader who had concluded a peace agreement with
the government on 06/16/2010, resumed his armed struggle
in April, becoming military commander of combined SSLA
and South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) contingents in Jonglei
State. On April 19, SSLA forces attacked government positions
in Mayom County, Unity State, killing five soldiers. Fighting intensified
on August 24, when joint SSLA/SSDF forces attacked
government troops in the Nanaam area of Jonglei, leaving
between 25 and 100 government forces dead. Approx. 7,000
people were displaced as a result of the fighting. Further clashes
were reported in Likuangole, Jonglei, between August 27
and 30, as well as on September 22. On October 25 and 26,
government troops and SSLA/SSDF forces clashed in the same
region, leaving one person dead. In reaction, the government
ordered the armed forces to suspend disarmament measures
in Jonglei State that had been intended to ease tensions
between different ethnic groups and instead concentrate its
capacities on the fight against SSLA/SSDF rebels [1 South Sudan
(inter-ethnic violence)]. On November 19, about nineteen
SSLA/SSDF militias and one government soldier were killed
during clashes in Linkwangule, Jonglei.
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