Hundreds killed in South Sudan militia attacks – reports

NAIROBI, May 10, 2004 (dpa) — At least 204 people were killed and 70 were injured when militias attacked a cattle camp in southern Sudan, according to reports received by the U.N. in South Sudan.

A U.N spokesman said he had received reports from local authorities that the attack was carried out by militiamen from the local Murle tribe. It reportedly took place on the 1st of May near the town of Akobo in the Eastern Upper Nile region, close to the border with Ethiopia.

The reports said many of the killed were women and children, and that at least six thousand heads of cattle were stolen

“Cattle raiding is a pretty common pastime in this area”, commented the U.N. spokesman.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed it had evacuated several severely injured people from the cattle camp.

The militiamen were said to have been dressed in new uniforms and carrying new weapons.

A spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which controls the area, says the Murle militia is backed by the government in Khartoum.

“One possibility may be that the government is trying to make a move through the militias”, said the U.N. spokesman.

SPLA and the Sudanese government are currently negotiating a peace deal for Southern Sudan, where a civil war has been raging for over 20 years.