Southern Sudan: Clashes in Jonglei leave 20,000 displaced
Publisher | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC) |
Publication Date | 25 February 2011 |
Cite as | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC), Southern Sudan: Clashes in Jonglei leave 20,000 displaced, 25 February 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4d6786952.html [accessed 23 May 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
In clashes between South Sudan's army forces loyal to breakaway commander George Athor Deng and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in Jonglei in mid-February, some 20,000 people were displaced and over 200 killed, most of them civilians.
Many of the victims reportedly drowned in a river as they tried to escape the fighting. Survivors are still exposed to the danger of repeat attacks. The clashes have closed Pangak county, with transport links blocked and the civilian populations too afraid to move.
General Athor was one of the top military officers of the SPLA during the South's civil war against Khartoum and took up arms last year, alleging fraud in state elections, where he ran as an independent candidate for the governorship of Jonglei.
See also: IDMC Sudan country page