Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
November 29, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Tribal fighters attacked a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) car inside a southern Sudan compound run by the aid group on Thursday, killing four people and wounding one, MSF said in a statement.
The attack was staged at an MSF (Doctors Without Borders) hospital and compound in Bor in Jonglei state of southern Sudan, the statement said.
Meinie Nicolai, operations director for the group which is also known as Doctors Without Borders, called the attack “an outrageous act and a serious breach of the safety that a hospital should provide.”
“Eight patients and family members, including a baby, had been evacuated from the hospital when tribal fighting broke out inside the facility,” said the statement.
“They were inside the MSF car in the organisation’s compound across the road from the hospital when they were attacked by people pursuing them. Two adults and the baby escaped unharmed by hiding under the car’s seats.”
“At the time of the killings, MSF was treating 23 people who were brought in overnight with injuries sustained in clashes between tribes.”
MSF said its 17 staff at Bor had been “badly shaken by the violent events and most members are being flown out for counselling.” It was hoping to send a small replacement team to the town to continue what it called its “lifesaving” work there.
The aid group has been working in Bor since March 2006.
“Four people have died, one is injured, and three more narrowly escaped,” said Nicolai in Brussels, quoted by the statement.
“This attack affects our ability to provide medical care in Bor hospital, which has an important regional role for referrals from all over Jonglei state.”
MSF did not not identify the tribes involved but southern Sudan is awash with ethnic groups that have been fighting over political alliances and access to resources.
“From our compound and inside the hospital we treat everybody who needs medical care, and people from different tribes lie side by side in the wards,” said Nicolai.
“The disrespect shown by the people who chose to extend their fighting into the hospital and our compound is absolutely intolerable,” she added, calling on Sudanese authorities to take action to protect the facilities.
(AFP)
nyankuany Mareng
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
Here you go again!! Dinka are taking law into their hands. Two week ago when I mentioned that the guns men in Bor went on rampage killing three soldiers from Anyuak ethnic group some people were outrage by my statement. But the fact is that we have problem in Jonglei State and it just a matter of time a full scale war may break out between other ethnic groups with Bor since all communities are heavily armed.
Killing patients in the hospital because they are your enemy is barbaric and cowardice acts. Why not go to Murle land to fight with real men instead fighting with patients in the hospital bed.
James James
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
ctually we had recieved confirmed report that, a group of armed men from Dinka Bor went this morning to the hosptial and gun down 6 civilians believed to be from Murle tribe,this incudes four (4) patients who were hospitalized plus two(2)others who accompanied their sick family members to the hosspital, Three other victims were hunted and killed elsewhere within Bor town.
The eyes witness describe situation in Jongolei as precarious and tense between these two tribes.
There had been circulating rumours & accussations between Bor and Murle these past days. Bor accusses Murle of kids abduction and cattle rustling, meanwhile, Murle accuses Bor of manufacturing false allegations against them for the aim of trying to rally government troops to go and destroy their tribe.There is also an accussation that, Nyandeng and Bior Athued had secretly mobilized some Bor Soldiers within SPLA and transported them between Bor-Murle Border.
Well, since conditon has gone to this level,can government do something or the situation had completely run out of hand ?
Could it be revenge for the alleged abducted children or there is something behind the curtain ?
Whatever, serves as the answer for this, the government and local authorities must do what they have to do to cool things down. My condolence to the brief families from both sides.
I hope southerners recieve God blessings bring them to understand themselves and turn things attractive as expected because this is disgusting and shameful at all that we become babaric enough to the point of killing already dead patients in hospitals.
Juach D Juach
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
As a former MSF Belgium Deputy HOM for South Sudan mission in Nairobi & Juba (2005-2006), and a founder of this particular project, am deeply saddened and terrified. I urge all the warring parties in Jonglei state to restraint from fighting amongst themselves since it is going to threaten services delivery by International Organisations and suppose the smooth implementation of the CPA as well in the state.
I hope the present tension doesn’t oblige the MSFB- HOM (Head of Mission) to reach a speedy conclusion to pull out the whole team for an extended period because the needy will be left with no one to turn for medical services, since goes GoSS- MOH is still struggling to establish herself.
May the beloved citizens of Jonglei state recognize that they are kinfolk and that there is no point of carnage amongst themselves and their neighbours in the other Southern states of Sudan.
Note:
The opinion doesn’t reflects MSF’s but a personal for the reason that am no longer an employee of the organisation.
YihHon Alewei
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
When are we going to give up this tribal fighting!
This attack carried out by the tribal fighters is not acceptable! Attacking people in the hospital and NGOs compound is disatrous!
It could lead to the suspension of the operation in that region by the organization! Such activities are not helpful in a community which rose on a grassroot! MSF is an organization which operate in dangerous place, and they always give up their lives to safe people! And if people turn out and do some strange things to them, I don’t think whether that’s going to help South Sudanese!
The States governments in the South don’t deal with those who always broken the law! Anybody who use to swallow the law should be force to vomit it! Nobody is above the law! Law is something respected by a very one and abid the whole community! We want the states governments of South Sudan to be given extra powers by the central government to deal with these burning issues in the society!
A community which doesn’t respect the law always remain in chaotic situation!
Let’s do something for our country and its people!
Deng Akol Agut-tungdoun
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
Dear Reader,
I would like to late you all know that those guys who died in the hospital and have been alleged that they where killed by the Bor community were just but wounded criminal, who threat the community and when gate wounded, their high-ranking guys from Jonglei government smuggle them to the Bor hospital at night.
The point of saying that they were just sick people is not true. And he who is saying the above ward is to be hold responssible for his wards.
To my dearest Equatorian, you must distance yourselves from saying there is going to be a full scale war in Jonglei unless you are behind the Murle attacks. How come that you talked of war while you know it,s effact on the people of Southern Sudan.Please be a good neighbour if you want Bor not to be part of Southern Sudan. Long Live the hated community of Bor, Long live freedom fighters of others who claim to be peace lovers on the blood of their own brothers.
Deng Akol Agut-tungdoun
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
Dear Readers,
I would like to late you all know that those guys who died in the hospital and have been alleged that they where killed by the Bor community were just but wounded criminal, who threat the community and when gate wounded, their high-ranking guys from Jonglei government smuggle them to the hospital at night.
The point of saying that they were just sick people is not true. And he who is saying the above ward is to be hold responssible for his wards.
To my dearest Equatorian, you must distance yourselves from saying there is going to be a full scale war in Jonglei unless you are behind the Murle attacks. How come that you talked of war while you know is effact on the people of Southern Sudan.Please be a good neighbour if you want Bor not to be part of Southern Sudan. Long Live the hated community of Bor Long live freedom fighters of others who claim to be peace lovers on the blood of their brothers.
Kony Alieth David
Four killed in tribal attack on southern Sudan compound – MSF
Hey my dear NyanKuany Mareng, you are so stupied from brian upto the toes .you say, as if you are part of murle who abducted children from Dinka and Nuer.I hope you were in exile that is why you are blaming Bor community which is bullcheat to me in particular life is equal and no one can be term as weak person.
If they were aware of some problems that will face then the should not have been temper with Bor cattle and children.
Please do’t involved your in blood shed of Dinka Bor killed by Murle. God will curse you .
Our initiative is not to kill but to promote peace amongst south Sudanese as you had seen being achieved thorough the sacrified of Dinka sons.
Keep away from our afare becuase you are coward not Dinka.
stop your stupity. Also MSF should not added petrol on fire let them do thier work becuase the are not part of tribal cashes. This is was between sick people in the hospital not the community.
Bombom
Are those senseless killings still occurring in our community, where is GoSS then?
My condolences are due to the victims and loved ones of this inexcusable barbaric murdering of our innocence citizens of Merle community. Yet, I would like to urge the community to display calm and not to take the matter in to their hands so as to let the justice to take its course.
Another message is to Bor community; please don’t behave self-importantly by killing defenceless hospitalised men and women of Murle! because it is completely disgraceful and browbeaten because courageous people never like to take advantage of defencelessness of the weaken!
Thus, people from Bor community are supposed to condemn the killing and put up with any blame they may receive from the grieved loved ones of the victims! They should not fight back protectively as if they are the victim themselves!
Having said that, I would like to encourage the so-called government of south Sudan(GoSS)to prevail because these repeated incidents are noisy enough to weaken the GoSS, simply because their ultimate results will be disintegration of southern Sudan as entity believe it or not!
If some citizens of southern Sudan, specially from samll tribes feel unprotected by their GoSS then, they will be left with no enough options other than to seek different and private deals with whoever will secure their protection. Some people are quickly pointing fingers to what they called militia being supported by GoNU, then, how can someone blame those if they only protect their own people who felt deserted and not protected by what is supposed to protect them( GoSS and its SPLA militia).
Seriously, I am not blaming this incident and that of Yambio to the people who did them, but to so-called GoSS because those two incidents had happened simply because GoSS which is being run by a self-centred group was not serous enough in solving problems that matter to people of Southern Sudan, I remember when GoSS was hypocritically wasting millions of dollars in an attempt to solve Ugandan problem leaving accumulated problems of its citizens unresolved! Which southerner does know the existence of Nuer-Murle, Murle-Tosposa and Dinka Bor- Murle conflicts?? Why governments in southern Sudan failed to resolve them?
Instead to waste that money on drinking, among others of corrupted activities, is not better to use it to educate people of how to get on with each another and leave their differences that are created by ignorance behind them?
Which country we are going to build if we can’t tolerate living together as one people and one community? I have no side in this conflict but as a concerned citizen of southern Sudan I must admit my being deeply troubled by these senseless killings in Bor, Yambio, among other places in my beloved Southern Sudan. I believe those killings will never bring us any good other than the failure to attain our destiny. I wonder if GoSS can’t even solve the problem of current population of southern Sudan, then, how it will handle the situation once it has been made worse by addition of people of Abyei to GoSS administration.
By Bol Thourmuck Greater Nuer Greater Nasir (UK)