SouthSudan.Net

Athor attack in south Sudan's Jonglei 'killed 200'

Southern army officials at ceasefire ceremony in January

George Athor did not attend the January signing ceremony

Sudan: Set for divorce

Fighting in south Sudan last week left some 200 people dead, officials say - double the previous estimate.

Most of those killed in the rebel attack were civilians such as women, children and priests, a minister said.

The clashes between fighters loyal to rebel leader George Athor and south Sudan's army come as the region prepare for independence from the north following last month's referendum.

Some 99% of people voted to secede from the north.

A senior official of south Sudan's ruling party accused the north of backing the rebel attacks.

The north has denied previous similar accusations.

The referendum on independence for the oil-rich south was part of a deal to end decades of north-south conflict.

Mr Athor took up arms last year, alleging fraud in state elections, but agreed to a ceasefire last month just before the historic vote.

Security challenges

"We express our sorrow and pain after the loss of nearly 200 people - 197 people in Fangak county as a result of the heinous attack by George Athor's forces on a defenceless civilian population," said Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) secretary general Pagan Amum.

The south's Humanitarian Affairs Minister James Kok, who has just returned from the area, told Reuters news agency that 201 people had died.

Jonglei is the south's most populous state.

The BBC's Peter Martell in the southern capital, Juba, says the fighting is another sign of the challenges the south faces in bringing its people together and improving security.

The week-long referendum vote itself passed off peacefully, but tension remains high in parts of the oil-rich area which straddles the north and south.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has promised to accept the outcome of the referendum.

Southern Sudan is to become the world's newest independent state on 9 July.

Sudan: A country divided

211 killed: S.Sudan says Khartoum arming rebels
Irish Sun
Tuesday 15th February, 2011
(Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)

JUBA, Sudan -; Political leaders in Southern Sudan on Tuesday angrily accused Sudan's Khartoum-based government of arming a rebel leader they say killed more than 200 southerners last week, a charge that could increase north-south tensions as the south prepares for independence.

Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management James Kok Ruea labeled last week's attack by rebel leader George Athor a "massacre." Ruea said 201 southern civilians and security forces died during the attack in Jonglei state and that 10 died later in the hospital.

He said nearly 160 of the dead were civilians, including children, the elderly and the internally displaced.

"They were chased into the river. I was the one who put them into a mass grave," an emotional sounding Ruea told The Associated Pres... ...