Over 20 killed in cattle raids in Lakes state
By Manyang Mayom
August 4, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – Twenty one people were killed and six people injured on Monday in clashes over cattle raids in Lakes State an official from the southern Sudanese military said on Wednesday.
Major General Kuol Diem Kuol from the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) told AFP and AP news agencies that raiders attacked a cattle camp in Yirol County killing one person before attempting to steal hundreds of cows.
“Then those in the camp chased and fought back, killing 20 of the raiders,” he said.
Kuol told AFP that the attack was not caused by ethnic rivalry and said “the situation is now under control.”
“These were criminal cowboys wanting to steal, and it is not a tribal issue,” said Kuol.
An employee at the Yirol West Civil Hospital told the Sudan Tribune that a ten year old was among the six seriously injured patients admitted following the raid on Monday. The witness also said that the hospital was short of medicine.
The United Nations Mission in Sudan estimates that conflict over cattle rustling, natural resources and reprisal attacks in southern Sudan have killed 700 and forced over 152,000 people from their homes so far this year. This is so far slightly less than last year when 2,500 people were killed and more than 350,000 were displaced over the whole year.
Yirol West County Commissioner Diardit Bol had to request help from Lakes state authorities to restore security to the area.
“Fighting erupted again between our youth of greater Yirol West and Yirol East counties, in my capacity as county commissioner; I need strong backup from state high authority to implement traditional chiefs’ peace conference resolutions signed by traditional chief’s authority during Yirol Peace Conference in July,” Bol said.
Soldiers from the SPLA – the former rebels who govern southern Sudan under a 2005 peace deal – and extra police have been sent to Yirol in an attempt to bring security to the area.
The minister for local government and law enforcement in Lakes State, Mabor Mayen Wol said that “we are now sending in more police forces to Yirol counties specially fighting zone – despite lack of police equipment, we will bring all culprits to book.”
Maj. Gen. Kuol said that frequent cattle raiding in Lakes State may be due to the dowry price in region, which is around 100 cows or more.
In January next year the south will have the chance to vote on whether it wants to secede from the north as part of a deal signed by the SPLA and Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party nearly six years ago.
The agreement established a semi-autonomous government in the south run by the SPLA. The SPLA’s attempts to disarm civilians in Lakes State and across the south have often been blamed for violence in the region.
(ST)
Dr.Agany
Over 20 killed in cattle raids in Lakes state
In order to achieve lasting peace and stability!! Dinka and Nuer cultures need to be restructured by sending all the chiefs and assistant chiefs for more than a year in “leadership instructions, forced marriages and alternative community resource training” as well as “putting the highest dowry price on girls who have gone higher in education” Please get my point as follows:
In that way and due to Dinka-Nuer cultural pride, the girls who have gone long way in school won’t accept men who haven’t gone to school and in that way, we will bring all our brothers to new world of discovery and the number of cattle rustlers will decline and eventually stop after 10 to 15 years.
The idea of disarming them and issue threat against any attempt won’t bring any changes!! Wise and knowledgeable people consider cattle rustling in south sudan as historical and they differentiate it from political manovuers.
Urbano Tito Tipo
Over 20 killed in cattle raids in Lakes state
Where did the civilians in the cattle camp get the guns when they have been disarmed to attack the cattle raiders. The raiders must have been some sort of militias otherwise the SPLA spokeman wants to tell us they are favoring some civilians to own weapons in the south.
Daniel Juol Nhomngek Geech
Over 20 killed in cattle raids in Lakes state
It is a very sad affair to see such a great number of people being killed for no reason at all. I am very much saddened for such news. However, this issue of cattle rustling seems to have no solution at all or the solution to be found for it is something very far in the future. But what should be done to curb such immoral, pervasive and repugnant activities?
The best way to stop such mindless individuals who have no way to continue in a honest way of living but instead keeping moving around to steal cows is for the law to get tightened on them. But someone may ask that: why the law has been applied on them but it couldn’t work? That is true but I want to clarify here that there is a lot of loopholes in the law in Southern Sudan which leads always to the miscarriage of justice and this keeps people bitter and ready to raid as a revenge of what was done to them previously.
The government of the South in order to stamp this practice out of the southern Sudan once and for all is to device a means to create a missing link between the cattle-keepers, especially the youth in the cattle camp who cannot be managed any longer with young children at home. This should be done in making education compulsory for children in all over the south and if anybody found not following this rule he should be fined heavily and that child has to go to school after that fine.
This can help to cut-off the continuing cattle raid because many people deny to take their children to school because they want them in future to protect their animals and if all the children are sent to school there will be no such excuses. It is too much and this issue of cattle rustling will never end in Cattle keeping communities which is very discouraging.