Thousands need aid after South Sudan ethnic violence: UN
* UN humanitarian coordinator says ‘a massive emergency operation is needed to help people
JUBA: Thousands of South Sudanese who fled the latest wave of bloody ethnic violence in the troubled Jonglei state are in dire need of emergency aid, the United Nations warned Wednesday.
A column of some 6,000 rampaging armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe last week marched on the remote town of Pibor, home to the rival Murle people, whom they blame for cattle raiding and have vowed to exterminate.
"A massive emergency operation is going to be needed in the weeks ahead to help people uprooted by the violence," the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan Lise Grande said in a statement.
"Hundreds of people are returning to the town from the bush. They are highly vulnerable and they need help," she added.
Gunmen burned thatch huts and looted a hospital and a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in the worst flare-up in a dispute that has left more than 1,000 dead in recent months and threatened to destabilise the fledgling nation.
Lou Nuer gunmen have since begun to return homewards, after the army sent reinforcements and UN peacekeepers beefed up security in the isolated area. But the violence has caused "tens of thousands of people" to flee their homes resulting in "destruction to property and livelihoods" as well as hampering efforts by aid workers to help those in need, Grande said.
Unconfirmed reports based on survivor accounts suggested up to 150 people, largely women and children, were hunted down and killed after fleeing Pibor town. Grande has said that the number of those killed could be in the "tens, perhaps hundreds" but that figures remain unconfirmed. "Humanitarian operations have also been put at risk by persistent insecurity in the area," she added.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres), the main healthcare provider for the estimated 160,000 people in Pibor country, has temporarily suspended its operations after the clashes forced them to evacuate staff.
Only one MSF health clinic in Pibor country escaped being looted, but the aid agency remains ready to provide "emergency care as soon as possible." In addition, at least 10 people were killed, 25 women and children are missing, and an estimated 8,000 people have fled from separate fighting last week in Jonglei's Akobo county, home to the Lou Nuer people, Grande said. afp
Source http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\01\05\story_5-1-2012_pg4_3
JUBA: Thousands of South Sudanese who fled the latest wave of bloody ethnic violence in the troubled Jonglei state are in dire need of emergency aid, the United Nations warned Wednesday.
A column of some 6,000 rampaging armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe last week marched on the remote town of Pibor, home to the rival Murle people, whom they blame for cattle raiding and have vowed to exterminate.
"A massive emergency operation is going to be needed in the weeks ahead to help people uprooted by the violence," the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan Lise Grande said in a statement.
"Hundreds of people are returning to the town from the bush. They are highly vulnerable and they need help," she added.
Gunmen burned thatch huts and looted a hospital and a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders in the worst flare-up in a dispute that has left more than 1,000 dead in recent months and threatened to destabilise the fledgling nation.
Lou Nuer gunmen have since begun to return homewards, after the army sent reinforcements and UN peacekeepers beefed up security in the isolated area. But the violence has caused "tens of thousands of people" to flee their homes resulting in "destruction to property and livelihoods" as well as hampering efforts by aid workers to help those in need, Grande said.
Unconfirmed reports based on survivor accounts suggested up to 150 people, largely women and children, were hunted down and killed after fleeing Pibor town. Grande has said that the number of those killed could be in the "tens, perhaps hundreds" but that figures remain unconfirmed. "Humanitarian operations have also been put at risk by persistent insecurity in the area," she added.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres), the main healthcare provider for the estimated 160,000 people in Pibor country, has temporarily suspended its operations after the clashes forced them to evacuate staff.
Only one MSF health clinic in Pibor country escaped being looted, but the aid agency remains ready to provide "emergency care as soon as possible." In addition, at least 10 people were killed, 25 women and children are missing, and an estimated 8,000 people have fled from separate fighting last week in Jonglei's Akobo county, home to the Lou Nuer people, Grande said. afp
Source http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\01\05\story_5-1-2012_pg4_3
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