18 killed in Juba during Garang riots

JUBA, Sudan, Aug 3 (AFP) — At least 18 people were killed and hundreds wounded in this south Sudanese town this week during riots that erupted after the death of revered ex-southern rebel leader John Garang, an official with his former rebel group and witnesses said here Wednesday.

The official with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and other residents of Juba, the capital of autonomous southern Sudan, said the casualties came during violence that broke out on Monday after the confirmation of Garang’s death in a weekend helicopter crash.

“At least 18 people were killed, including children,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that some of the deaths were the result of battles between Sudanese security forces and southern Sudanese angered by Garang’s passing.

Other witnesses, who also spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals, recounted a day of clashes in which southern Sudanese burned and looted businesses owned by Arabs considered close to the Muslim government in Khartoum.

“Arab-owned shops were burnt down,” said one, a civilian. “It was the worst scene ever here, some people were shot and others died later.”

A third witness told AFP that several hundred people had been injured during the violence.

“Hundreds were treated in the Red Cross hospital here,” the witness said.

Juba, where Garang is to be buried on Saturday, was largely deserted except for a large contingent of heavily armed Sudanese troops who were patrolling the town and enforcing a curfew imposed by authorities to stem the violence.

Security forces chased violaters of the dusk-to-dawn curfew into their homes in Juba where AFP correspondents saw dozens of burnt-out shops and a large market that had been destroyed in Monday’s clashes.

The corrugated tin from roofs and abandoned personal effects littered some streets where several charred buses remained standing two days after the violence.