At least 287 people killed in inter-communal clashes in South Sudan over the weekend

[Kailash Kumar]

Hundreds killed in inter-communal clashes in South Sudan

an hour ago

At least 287 people, including a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff member and two other aid workers, have been killed in the most recent spat of inter-communal violence in the eastern state of Jonglei in South Sudan, government authorities have told Al Jazeera.

At least 300 people were wounded in the violence, which broke out between the Murle and Lou Nuer ethnic communities on Saturday, according to the government. Many suffered gunshot wounds and other trauma, according to health workers.

Meanwhile, a patrol from the UN Mission to South Sudan has been sent to the town of Pieri to interview survivors, the organisation said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The team is investigating reports that many people were killed, injured and lost their homes," the statement said, adding that "many" huts were burned to the ground.

The UN mission said it had not independently verified the death toll, saying, "it is difficult to verify the number of casualties given conflicting reports and claims".

Government officials told Al Jazeera the figure was expected to rise.

MSF confirmed that one member of its staff had been killed in the fighting. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan said two other aid workers for other groups were also killed.

"We have a primary healthcare centre in the town of Pieri that was active at the time the fighting broke out," Steve MacKay, the deputy head of the MSF mission in South Sudan said. "One of our colleagues who lives in that area was killed during that incident over the weekend."

The organisation has resumed its work in the region after briefly pausing following the attack, he said.

'Power vacuum'
The Uror county commissioner, John Dak Gatluak, told the DPA news agency that heavily armed men from the Murle ethnic group had attacked six villages in Saturday's violence.

Local authorities believe the attack was carried out in revenge for a similar incident in February, when men from the Lou Nuer ethnic group had raided cattle and abducted children from the Murle.

South Sudan is emerging from a brutal six-year civil war that left 380,000 dead and millions displaced.

President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, the former rebel leader, reached a deal to form a unity government in February but remain at odds over issues including who will govern the country's 10 internal states.

While political violence has calmed in the country since that agreement, the lack of state governors has created a "vacuum of power" that fosters the inter-communal violence, David Shearer, the UN Special Representative to South Sudan told Al Jazeera.

"The governor is a very, very important person in the state because they bring together many of the tribes. They also have the authority to reconcile and take action where there's non-compliance," Shearer said.

The tensions have also been inflamed by flooding in August that killed thousands of cattle.

"These societies are very much focused in and around cattle and their survival is dependent on cattle," he said. "The fact that so many cattle have died has put real economic pressure on the societies."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...unal-clashes-south-sudan-200520165329158.html

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

Hundreds killed in inter-communal clashes in South Sudan

an hour ago

At least 287 people, including a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) staff member and two other aid workers, have been killed in the most recent spat of inter-communal violence in the eastern state of Jonglei in South Sudan, government authorities have told Al Jazeera.

At least 300 people were wounded in the violence, which broke out between the Murle and Lou Nuer ethnic communities on Saturday, according to the government. Many suffered gunshot wounds and other trauma, according to health workers.

Meanwhile, a patrol from the UN Mission to South Sudan has been sent to the town of Pieri to interview survivors, the organisation said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The team is investigating reports that many people were killed, injured and lost their homes," the statement said, adding that "many" huts were burned to the ground.

The UN mission said it had not independently verified the death toll, saying, "it is difficult to verify the number of casualties given conflicting reports and claims".

Government officials told Al Jazeera the figure was expected to rise.

MSF confirmed that one member of its staff had been killed in the fighting. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan said two other aid workers for other groups were also killed.

"We have a primary healthcare centre in the town of Pieri that was active at the time the fighting broke out," Steve MacKay, the deputy head of the MSF mission in South Sudan said. "One of our colleagues who lives in that area was killed during that incident over the weekend."

The organisation has resumed its work in the region after briefly pausing following the attack, he said.

'Power vacuum'
The Uror county commissioner, John Dak Gatluak, told the DPA news agency that heavily armed men from the Murle ethnic group had attacked six villages in Saturday's violence.

Local authorities believe the attack was carried out in revenge for a similar incident in February, when men from the Lou Nuer ethnic group had raided cattle and abducted children from the Murle.

South Sudan is emerging from a brutal six-year civil war that left 380,000 dead and millions displaced.

President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, the former rebel leader, reached a deal to form a unity government in February but remain at odds over issues including who will govern the country's 10 internal states.

While political violence has calmed in the country since that agreement, the lack of state governors has created a "vacuum of power" that fosters the inter-communal violence, David Shearer, the UN Special Representative to South Sudan told Al Jazeera.

"The governor is a very, very important person in the state because they bring together many of the tribes. They also have the authority to reconcile and take action where there's non-compliance," Shearer said.

The tensions have also been inflamed by flooding in August that killed thousands of cattle.

"These societies are very much focused in and around cattle and their survival is dependent on cattle," he said. "The fact that so many cattle have died has put real economic pressure on the societies."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...unal-clashes-south-sudan-200520165329158.html

South Sudan is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse nations in the world. They wanted independence from the "oppressive Arab North Sudan" and now they are lightyears behind Sudan on every front and in perpetual conflict since 2011 among each other. Ethnic group x or y, clan and tribe x or y warring among each other. Frequent reports of mass-killings and ethnic cleansing. Much of the resources in South Sudan have been taken advantage of by foreigners. Land-locked too. Jungles. In other words a "bright" future if this continues.

The best thing that occurred was the independence of South Sudan for Sudan. Time proved that right.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

(Rashaida Arab woman in a traditional dress)

vs

The independent pagan and Christian "liberated" South.

As South Sudan Seeks Funds for Peace, a Billion Dollar Spending Spree

This is long before the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic.

South Sudan hasn’t paid its government employees, including doctors, teachers and lawmakers, for several months. It says it simply can’t afford to.

The East African country has been ravaged by decades of conflict, and most recently, a brutal six-year civil war that has claimed the lives of at least 383,000 people. The UN says more than 4 million – about one third of the population – are displaced from their homes.

The conflict, and low oil prices, have battered the economy, which is one of the world’s most oil-dependent. South Sudan’s gross domestic product has plummeted from US$13 billion at the start of the civil war to just $3 billion as of 2016.​

https://www.occrp.org/en/investigat...nds-for-peace-a-billion-dollar-spending-spree

The Western media/world media does not tell you about what has been happening in South Sudan after South Sudan was "freed" from the evil Muslim Arab North Sudan.

 

[Aspen]

287 is not a small number

 

[Safriz]

My nephew's fiance is Sudanese.
I don't know which Sudan she is from and I dare not ask.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

My nephew's fiance is Sudanese.
I don't know which Sudan she is from and I dare not ask.

Well, if she is Muslim she is most likely a Sudanese Arab or a Sudanese Beja as those two are the main Muslim groups in Sudan. Or more unlikely (based on numbers) she might be from Darfur which is also a majority Muslim province of Sudan.

If she is from the South she is most likely a pagan (follower of African animistic religions) or a Christian.

Sudanese are lovely people with an eloquent Arabic (very similar to Hijazi and Egyptian Arabic) and their hospitality and humor is well-known in the Arab world. There are many Sudanese people in KSA and many of our Afro-Arabs are Sudanese. Sudanese Arabs are basically the fusion of Arab males from Arabia next door intermarrying with mostly Nubian and Beja women (Muslim) creating the Arab Sudanese ethnicity which DNA and history also confirms. Hence why Sudanese Arabs are sometimes falsely confused for non-Arabs even though skin color has no importance.

Sudan has the potential to become the food basket of the Arab world and there is a lot of potential in mining, tourism and other industries. I like that country a lot and I hope for even closer KSA-Sudan ties. The removal of the old regime was a good step in the right direction for Sudan. Rest will come with time.

 

[Safriz]

Well, if she is Muslim she is most likely a Sudanese Arab or a Sudanese Beja as those two are the main Muslim groups in Sudan. Or more unlikely (based on numbers) she might be from Darfur which is also a majority Muslim province of Sudan.

If she is from the South she is most likely a pagan (follower of African animistic religions) or a Christian.

Sudanese are lovely people with an eloquent Arabic (very similar to Hijazi and Egyptian Arabic) and their hospitality and humor is well-known in the Arab world. There are many Sudanese people in KSA and many of our Afro-Arabs are Sudanese. Sudanese Arabs are basically the fusion of Arab males from Arabia next door intermarrying with mostly Nubian and Beja women (Muslim) creating the Arab Sudanese ethnicity which DNA and history also confirms. Hence why Sudanese Arabs are sometimes falsely confused for non-Arabs even though skin color has no importance.

Sudan has the potential to become the food basket of the Arab world and there is a lot of potential in mining, tourism and other industries. I like that country a lot and I hope for even closer KSA-Sudan ties. The removal of the old regime was a good step in the right direction for Sudan. Rest will come with time.

She is a devout Muslim. That much I know. That's the main reason my nephew fell for her , or so he says.

 

[Yaseen1]

such riots are promoted by western imperialist powers as it helps them to control resources of such countries which are backward and their public have very less vision and ability to think

 

[Safriz]

Well, if she is Muslim she is most likely a Sudanese Arab or a Sudanese Beja as those two are the main Muslim groups in Sudan. Or more unlikely (based on numbers) she might be from Darfur which is also a majority Muslim province of Sudan.

If she is from the South she is most likely a pagan (follower of African animistic religions) or a Christian.

Sudanese are lovely people with an eloquent Arabic (very similar to Hijazi and Egyptian Arabic) and their hospitality and humor is well-known in the Arab world. There are many Sudanese people in KSA and many of our Afro-Arabs are Sudanese. Sudanese Arabs are basically the fusion of Arab males from Arabia next door intermarrying with mostly Nubian and Beja women (Muslim) creating the Arab Sudanese ethnicity which DNA and history also confirms. Hence why Sudanese Arabs are sometimes falsely confused for non-Arabs even though skin color has no importance.

Sudan has the potential to become the food basket of the Arab world and there is a lot of potential in mining, tourism and other industries. I like that country a lot and I hope for even closer KSA-Sudan ties. The removal of the old regime was a good step in the right direction for Sudan. Rest will come with time.

She will be the second Arab in our Pakistani family.
My first cousin is married to a Moroccan Arab woman.
I didn't know she is Arab. I asked her if she speaks Barbari and she was well offended.
Later my cousin told me that Moroccan Arabs don't like to be called Barabari and only speak Arabic.
Although I been to Morocco many times and couldn't understand their Arabic as it sounds different from the type of Arabic spoken in Arabian peninsula.
My nephew's fiance will be the second Arab in our family. Her family doesn't allow her to meet my nephew very often and they have asked him if he wants to spend time with her , do the Nikaah.
Take her away after a ceremonial marriage.
He is very fond of her and was going to do Nikaah in may but Corona lockdown delayed it all.
I have never been to Sudan , so I am watching YouTube documentaries about the country, so that I don't end up offending her or her family when I go to their marriage in their country of residence , Australia, whenever it happens .

 

[Nein]

• such riots are promoted by western imperialist powers as it helps them to control resources of such countries which are backward and their public have very less vision and ability to think

Because the western based nation state building has failed in Africa also nationalism has also failed.

Western concepts of nation building does not work in Africa neither in the Islamic World.

Turkey has been the most successful one at this.

 

[ArabianEmpires&Caliphates]

She will be the second Arab in our Pakistani family.
My first cousin is married to a Moroccan Arab woman.
I didn't know she is Arab. I asked her if she speaks Barbari and she was well offended.
Later my cousin told me that Moroccan Arabs don't like to be called Barabari and only speak Arabic.
Although I been to Morocco many times and couldn't understand their Arabic as it sounds different from the type of Arabic spoken in Arabian peninsula.
My nephew's fiance will be the second Arab in our family. Her family doesn't allow her to meet my nephew very often and they have asked him if he wants to spend time with her , do the Nikaah.
Take her away after a ceremonial marriage.
He is very fond of her and was going to do Nikaah in may but Corona lockdown delayed it all.
I have never been to Sudan , so I am watching YouTube documentaries about the country, so that I don't end up offending her or her family when I go to their marriage in their country of residence , Australia, whenever it happens .

I think that you are confusing "Barabari" with Berbers or Amazighs as they prefer to call themselves, brother.
Berbers are a closely related people to Arabs and they inhabit the Maghreb, mainly Morocco and Algeria.
Most Maghrebis today are a mixture of Arabs and Berbers hence the notion of Arab-Berber.
Some Berber communities, mainly in Morocco and Algeria (Kabylie) have various Berber languages as their mother tongue.
Several Arabic dialects are spoken in Morocco, some are easier for other Arabic speakers not from Morocco to understand than others.
I hope that everything will go smoothly with your nephew and her Sudanese fiancee.
As for offending, I don't think that you shall worry about that. Just use common sense and do a bit of research before out of courtesy. Ask your nephew about her background beforehand if necessary.
I can only talk about my own experiences but the Sudanese Arabs that I have known have been some of the most lovely people.