Ethnic violence in South Sudan (2011–present)

Ethnic violence in South Sudan began as part of the Sudanese nomadic conflicts, continuing since January 2011. The fighting continued throughout the transition process for South Sudan's independent government.

More than a month following South Sudan's independence and secession from Sudan, the fighting escalated after several cattle raids took place during ongoing clashes between the Murle and Lou Nuer, at farms in South Sudan's Jonglei state, killing up to 600 people and injuring up to 985, on 18 August 2011. The clashes took place when members of the Murle group are said to have attacked the majority Lou Nuer, stealing nearly 40,000 cattle. The death toll was originally reported to be as low as 58, but the United Nations said the flow of information had been hampered by vast distances and poor logistics. The UN also said that there was a possibility that as many as 200 people had been abducted. By January 2012, clashes including and stemming from the August cattle raid had left more than 1,100 dead in the region, according to the UN.

Fighting further intensified in late December 2011 and early January 2012 as the Nuer White Army, an armed group of Lou Nuer tribesmen, attacked Pibor and surrounding Murle villages in retaliation for the August 2011 cattle raid. The UN estimated between 20,000 and 50,000 were displaced as a result of the fighting.

Background
Violence erupted in Southern Sudan following the Southern Sudanese independence referendum, 2011, which took place between 9 and 15 January. Conflict initially focused on the volatile Abyei region before spreading to neighbouring areas. By February, armed confrontations between the Southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and rebel forces loyal to George Athor Deng had escalated, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

January 2011

 * 7–9 January: Clashes between nomadic Misseriya Arabs and the Dinka people killed 'dozens' in Abyei preceding the referendum. A source of tension was reportedly the delay in holding a separate referendum for the Abyei region. The Dinkas largely supported South Sudan's independence during the Second Sudanese Civil War.


 * 9–15 January: The independence referendum is held for Southern Sudan.

February 2011

 * 4–5 January: In Malakal, elements and factions of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of northern Sudan and the SPLA clashed, following the SAF's refusal to hand over heavy weapons. The fighting spread elsewhere in Upper Nile State, killing more than 60 on the SAF side.


 * 7 February: The results of the referendum are announced by the government in Khartoum. Nearly 99% of voters chose independence, effectively separating from northern Sudan.


 * 9 February: A southern Sudan government minister is shot dead in Juba.


 * 9–10 February: A clash between the SPLA and Athor's rebels killed 211 people in Fangak County, Jonglei State. The number of dead is initially reported at 105, but rise significantly when bodies were discovered in the town of Phom el-Zeraf, where civilians were shot by Athor's forces as they fled into a river. Spokespersons on both sides accused the other group of instigating the violence. The majority of casualties were reportedly civilians and elderly Sudanese.


 * 14 February: At a market in Abyei, three people are killed and 300 seek refuge in a United Nations (UNMIS) mission compound.


 * 25 February: Pre-independence Government of Southern Sudan's President Salva Kiir Mayardit issued an order prompting the SPLA to protect civilians against attacks by rebel groups.


 * 27 February: In Todach, Abyei, ten people died when armed militias stormed a police post. Southern Sudan officials reported some of the attackers were Misseriya, but claimed the attack itself was connected to a Khartoum government-sponsored militia. Another clash in Jonglei between Athor's forces and the SPLA killed more than 92 people, injuring 164. According to Athor's rebels, 110 people were killed, including 12 civilians. The SPLA estimated close to 40 casualties.

March 2011

 * 2 March: Another militia attack in an Abyei town kills 30 people, as militia burn hundreds of dwellings.


 * 3–4 March: Close to 25,000 people flee the town in Abyei, migrating south. Farther east, an armed clash in Twic East County, Jonglei between members of the Ayual and Dachuek Dinka, kills 22 people, including one SPLA officer. The United Nations sends in 100 peacekeepers.


 * 6–7 March: North of Malakal, a clash erupts between Captain Olonyi, a rebel loyal to Athor, and the SPLA. 60 people are killed in the fighting. Two separate clashes occur near the village of Owuac/Owachi in Upper Nile State, predominantly inhabited by Shilluk. Phillip Panyang Aguer, the SPLA spokesman, identified a rebel leader called Johnson Oliny/Olony, claiming he attacked a convoy of SPLA soldiers, killing one, while the second retaliatory clash killed 47 rebels, 7 SPLA members, and 8 other militia members. He also reported deadly pre-emptive attacks on Athor rebels in response to the February Fangak clashes, seizing 500 Kalashnikov rifles, and also capturing Athor's rebel headquarters. Dok James Puok meanwhile claimed that 169 SPLA soldiers were killed, including 105 in the first and 64 in the second attack, along with 34 rebels and "168 innocent civilians", burning down at least six villages. Human Rights Watch later confirmed that over 60 ethnic Shilluk were killed, and more than 7,000 displaced. The official United Nations report counted 62 dead, 70 injured and 7,625 displaced, but how many people were actually killed is unknown.


 * 8 March: In Jonglei, SPLA forces dislodge Athor's rebels from a hideout, and southern officials declare it a no-go zone.


 * 12 March: Olonyi's rebels conduct an early-morning raid in Malakal, killing 45. The SPLA repelled the attack, but the operation forcing out further rebels results in more casualties. Over 100 orphaned children are temporarily held hostage, and later released. In following weeks, some Shilluk were detained after being suspected of connections to Olonyi or Lam Akol, who founded the Democratic Change branch of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in 2009.


 * 12–13 March: A weekend clash between pastoralists of Lakes State and farmers from Western Equatoria left 7 people dead and 5 injured. This happened following a similar clash over pasture that killed 10 people the previous month.


 * 13 March: The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA movement) ceases talks with northern Sudan's National Congress, accusing it of plotting to overthrow the southern government.


 * 17–18 March: The SPLA clashes with a militia in Unity state, and 30 people are killed according to the SPLA. The fighting breaks out in Unity and Upper Nile, before spreading to Jonglei. In all, Aguer reported 34 SPLA soldiers and 36 rebels were killed.


 * 30 March: The armed forces of northern and southern Sudan both deploy heavy weapons to the Abyei region.

In the following months, more defections occurred in the SPLA.

April 2011

 * 11 April: The South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), led by Peter Gadet, announces its formation as a rebel army fighting against the main SPLA forces.


 * Mid-April: An official United Nations report shows that more than 800 people were killed in nine of ten Southern Sudan states, and about 100,000 displaced.


 * 19–25 April: SPLA spokesman Malaak Ayuen reported that 26 soldiers and at least 70 rebels were killed, totalling 101 in one offensive in Unity State. Clashes between the SPLA and rebels of Peter Gadet claim 45 lives.


 * 22 April: A north Sudanese UN World Food Programme employee is killed by "unknown assailants".


 * 23 April: In Jonglei, SPLA fighters clash with renegade commander Gabriel Tang's militia, resulting in 57 rebels and 7 SPLA members being killed according to Ayuen. Tang is captured and surrenders along with 1,300 men.


 * 26 April: The UN World Food Programme announces it has stopped operating in Jonglei and Lakes states following continued conflict, following the killing of an employee. This cuts off food rations to approximately 235,000 civilians.


 * 28 April: Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, issues a statement saying he will not accept South Sudan's independence as voted in the January referendum unless the north takes control over the oil-rich Abyei region. A draft proposal from the south claims Abyei.

May 2011

 * 1–3 May: Fighting in Abyei between northern and southern Sudan forces kills 14 people. Both sides blame the other for instigating the conflict.


 * 8–9 May: SSLA clash with tribal cattle herders in Warrap State, south of Abyei. The clashes came as SPLA troops pursued the rebels out of neighbouring Unity State. In Unity State, the information minister described the SPLA's attack on the SSLA as a "cleanup operation". Southern authorities accuse the rebels of being backed by al-Bashir's Khartoum government, and say that the rebels are mobilizing the Misseriya against the SPLA in Unity State. The UN reports more than 1,000 casualties in southern Sudan, and some 93,783 displaced.


 * 20 May: According to SPLA's Philip Aguer, northern Sudan began bombing raids using artillery and tanks, attacking four villages in the disputed region of Abyei. Northern Sudan claims the southern army (SPLA) attacked northern troops travelling in a UN convoy.


 * 21–22 May: Northern Sudan's tanks enter the town in Abyei, in an attempt to clear out southern forces. The United Nations convoy condemns this move, and further condemnation is received from the United States and the UK.


 * 30–31 May: A tentative agreement is reached, establishing a preliminary 20-kilometre ceasefire line and demilitarized region in Abyei. The deal is disclosed by the African Union.

Shortage of food among rebel forces and local tribes during the conflict leads to the outbreak of cattle raids.

June 2011
By June, at least seven "rebel militias" were still fighting with the SPLA forces. Tribal conflict in the form of cattle raids, which stemmed partly from inability to pay dowry fees in the form of cows, escalated.


 * 17 June: The UN reports that 113,000 people had been displaced in the Abyei region, on the disputed border zone, within the past month. The figure later rises past 146,000.


 * 29 June: Another United Nations report estimates 1,400 people were killed in southern Sudan since the beginning of 2011.

July 2011

 * 9 July: South Sudan officially becomes independent from Sudan.

August – December 2011
The 18 August 2011 attack occurred in Uror County, northern Jonglei state, and killed at least 640 people. The attack was reportedly launched by Murle tribesmen after armed groups infiltrated into the Peiri and Pulchuol Districts (Payams) at about 5 a.m. The attack is believed to have been a revenge operation against the Lou Nuer tribe after an attack on the Murle the previous June in Pibor County, prior to South Sudan's independence, in which many deaths were reported and cattle stolen. The attackers burned down over 3,400 houses and the hospital ran by Médecins Sans Frontières. An initial estimate showed that 38,000 heads of cattle were stolen and 208 children were kidnapped.

As fighting expanded into Upper Nile state, leaving 60 dead and 43 injured in fighting on 20 August, Juba accused its rival, the Republic of the Sudan, of supporting rebels led by George Athor, a rebel general and unsuccessful Jonglei gubernatorial candidate who was a former SPLA commander, and Gordon Koang.

Fighting continued between rebels, including dissident tribesmen, and the army and its allies, for several months after the cattle raid. In early December 2011, fighting between ethnic groups claimed 40 lives in Jalle after a 5 December rebel attack on the town. Later in the month, on 19 December, Athor was reportedly killed by army troops in Central Equatoria, apparently while returning to South Sudan from a recruiting expedition in Rwanda, in what was hailed as "good news" by South Sudanese parliamentarians. Late on 24 December, SPLA troops fired on Christmas Eve churchgoers in Pigi County, a center of the uprising, leaving four dead. A spokesman for the army said it was investigating the "unfortunate" attack.

On 25 December, the Nuer White Army threatened to "wipe out" the Murle altogether and attack United Nations and SPLA personnel if they interfered. Around the same time, Lou Nuer youth were blamed for an attack on Murle villages near Pibor that caused an unknown number of casualties.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) deployed peacekeepers to Pibor on 30 December in an effort to avert an attack by 6,000 armed Lou Nuer youths, deputy coordinator Lisa Grande said. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UNMISS head Hilde Johnson called on Lou Nuer and Murle fighters alike to lay down their arms and allow the government of South Sudan to work with them toward a lasting solution to the crisis.

At 3 pm on 31 December between 3–6,000 Lou Nuer tribesmen attacked a part of Pibor not protected by the UN peacekeepers. Houses were reported to have been set on fire and much of the town, including the airport and main hospital, were occupied. Scores of people are reported dead and 20,000 displaced. The Lou Nuer were said to be pursuing members of the Murle who have fled southwards. The South Sudanese government promised to send more army personnel and 2,000 police to the town to reinforce the 800 troops already there. The healthcare charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said that it lost contact with 130 of its staff who were forced to flee into the bush due to the attack. MSF said that a hospital and two outreach clinics were overrun, with some reports stating that the hospital had been set on fire. Looting was said to have taken place at MSF facilities.

2012
By 2 January, the majority of the Lou Nuer forces were said to have left Pibor and started to move to the southeast with a UN spokesman saying they were "almost certainly looking for cattle". The UN said that it had successfully held the main part of Pibor alongside South Sudanese army troops but that a MSF clinic had been overrun. The UN was advising people in the area to "disperse into the bush for their safety". Estimates for the number of displaced ranged up to 50,000, and more than 30 were killed with as many as 80 left injured. The SPLA dispatched 3,000 soldiers and 800 police to support the government's garrison in Pibor. On 5 January, Joshua Konyi, the commissioner of Pibor County and a Murle, estimated that 2,182 women and children and 959 men were killed, 1,293 children were abducted, and 375,186 cows were stolen.

2013
After a year of escalating changes in government and in the party, including the dismissal of Vice-President Riek Machar and the entire cabinet in June, fighting between Nuer and Dinka SPLA soldiers broke out in Juba on December 15. A rebellion rapidly spread around the country, with defected troops and Nuer militiamen loyal to Machar taking over Bentiu, Malakal and Bor.

Genocide warnings
In 2010, Dennis Blair, then United States Director of National Intelligence, issued a warning that "over the next five years,...a new mass killing or genocide is most likely to occur in southern Sudan." The Nuer White Army released a statement stating its intention to "wipe out the entire Murle tribe on the face of the earth as the only solution to guarantee long-term security of Nuer’s cattle" and activists, including Minority Rights Group International, warn of genocide in the current Jonglei conflict.