Jonglei state: 8 killed in Akobo county clashes

November 29, 2010 (BOR/JUBA) — At least 8 people have been killed and 8 others were wounded in Akobo county in South Sudan’s Jonglei state following clashes between the southern army and civilians on Sunday, sources have told the Sudan Tribune.

Fighting broke out after the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) tried to disarm civilians at Dengjok in Akobo. Among those killed were five soldiers and three civilians. Seven soldiers were injured along with one injured.

Goi Jooyi Yol, the Akobo county Commissioner told Sudan Tribune by phone on Monday that last week’s incident, involved clashes between the police and army against armed groups of youth.

The incident, the Commissioner said, started when one Kor Jikiny Malual, son of the area sub-chief, Mr. Jikiny Malual, allegedly killed someone in the neighboring community, in what he described as a “revenge mission” before reportedly retreating back to his village.

Following the killing incident, Yol said, a combined force of the SPLA and the area Police pursued the alleged killer but fell into an ambush laid by a group of armed youth who attacked the organized forces.

“The sub-chief, upon hearing that his son was to be arrested by these law enforcement officers decided to mobilize a group of mainly youth armed with guns that laid a deadly ambush on the SPLA and killed 3 of them,” the Commissioner told Sudan Tribune by phone from Akobo.

Shortly afterwards, he added, another similar incident was reportedly laid at Wec Hoth village, where two more soldiers and three civilians were reportedly killed. Several casualties were reportedly rushed to a nearby health center for treatment.

“This is a very unfortunate incident especially at this time when people are actively involved in the ongoing registration for referendum process. It is [the clashes] likely to disrupt the otherwise peaceful exercise,” said the Commissioner.

Voter registration for Southern Sudan’s long-awaited self-determination referendum which started on November 15, officially ends on December 08. The vote is a key part of the country’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended over two-decades of a bloody civil war between north and south.

Jonglei’s State High Committee (SHC) for the south’s referendum on independence said that two voter registration centers have had to be closed.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, John Boloc, a member of SHC said that registration at two centers is halted since Sunday and today Monday.

He said it was possible that the centers in Dengjok “may not operate” on Tuesday he added.

John Luk Jok, the Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development minister in the southern government condemned the Akobo incident, which he largely attributed to failure by authorities to disarm local communities still in possession of small arms.

“Last week’s incident simply underlines the situation of small arms which are still in existing among the communities. In my view, if such situations are not controlled then we are likely to continue seeing more of such mishaps among community members,” Jok, a legislator from the area, said when reached on phone.

When contacted on Monday, Col. Phillip Aguer Panyang, the SPLA spokesman confirmed the Akobo incident but had a slightly different version of events.

“We have received information on what happened in Akobo. All we know is that it was a clash involving two communities fighting among themselves. But when the SPLA were called to intervene, they resisted and instead fought the army. Am yet to confirm the numbers of people killed or wounded in the clashes,” he told Sudan Tribune.

Such incidences, he added, though not the first in the county are usually escalated by “groups of gangsters” in the area.

(ST)