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January 11, 2009 (JUBA) – The number of people killed during the tribal clashes in Malkal, southern Sudan, has reached 12 people. Further, several reports warn against the escalation of the fighting.
The fighting between Dinka and Shilluk sparked on the sidelines of the fourth anniversary of Comprehensive Peace Agreement celebration in the capital of Upper Nile state, Malakal on Friday 9 January.
The secretary general of the Fashouda organization that works in the region Carlo James Chol told the Kuwaiti News Agency (KUNA) that clashes in the Upper Nile city of Malakal are still ongoing.
Chol expressed fear that of a wide scale military confrontation between the two tribes and urged the government to intervene.
The fighting led to the death of twelve people and injured eight others he said but warned the toll figures are likely to be higher due to the fact that hundreds have fled away from the conflict zone besides the missing ones.
In November 2006 clashes occurred between the pro-Khartoum militia and the SPLA killing in Malakal hundreds and injuring many more.
Chol told KUNA that a number of people from the Dinka tribe attempted to take over areas that historically belonging to the Shilluk on the banks of the Nile and Sobat River.
SPLA Spokesman Peter Parnyang told Reuters that traditional dancers from the tribes quarreled on Friday during celebrations to mark the fourth anniversary of Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) — a deal that ended two decades of north-south civil war.
The dancers were supposed to take part in a parade around the stadium in the state’s capital Malakal before speeches by Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir and Vice President Salva Kiir, also president of semi-autonomous south Sudan.
“There was an issue of who would go first, who second, Dinka or Shilluk," Parnyang said. "(In the quarrel) three were critically injured by spears”.
The dispute at the celebration sparked violent clashes between the Dinka and Shilluk the following day, he said.
Parnyang warned of further escalation in fighting if the Shilluk, who are a majority in the region, decide to retaliate against the Dinka.
(ST)
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