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Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The skirmishes in South Sudan between government troops and rebels continued over the weekend with the country’s army fighting December 29 with “White Army” ethnic militia. Two weeks of fighting have left at least 1,000 dead and has also raised fears of an all-out civil war between the main Dinka and Nuer ethnic groups which could throw this struggling newly established nation into a tailspin and destabilize East Africa.
South Sudan’s rebel “White Army” is made up largely of Nuer youths who dust their bodies with ash. The rebel army clashed with government troops outside the town of Bor just five days after rebels were driven out, Juba’s Information Minister Michael Makuei said.
The rebel White Army is said to be controlled by former VP of South Sudan, Riek Machar, who is also a Nuer. Machar is said to be behind the coup attempt against President Salva Kiir in mid-December; Machar is from the Dinka tribe.
The growing situation in South Sudan has a number entities and countries concerned including China, who’s CNPC is responsible for a significant amount of the country’s crude production. The company started evacuating oil workers from the fields to Juba over a week ago. The UN said the involvement of the White Army brought another volatile ingredient, with about 25,000 people seeking refuge in the town of Malakal’s UN base. At the UN’s base in Unity state an estimated 200 oil workers sought refuge but were, at the time, expected to be evacuated by their respective firms.
Toby Lanzer, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan speaking from Malakal told Reuters, “There is palpable sense of fear among people who have either lost everything or been caught in the crossfire, or who simply don’t feel safe enough to be home.” UN estimates at least 180,000 people have been displaced during the 15 days of fighting in South Sudan.
“South Sudan does not need another escalation of the crisis involving armed youth, pitching communities against communities. This can end in a vicious cycle of violence,” UN Special Representative of the Secretary General Hilde Johnson, said in a statement.
Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni is very concerned about the situation in South Sudan, so concerned in fact that he in affect issued a subtle threat to Machar if he rejected Juba’s offer of a ceasefire.
“We (regional countries) gave Riek Machar four days to respond and if he doesn’t we shall have to go for him, all of us, that is what we agreed in Nairobi,” Museveni told reporters in Juba. When asked what he meant, Museveni said “to defeat him.”
On December 26 it was reported that rebels seized some oil wells and may damage them. This was not the first report of oil wells, fields or even oil states being seized. Loyalists to Machar claimed that they had taken Unity state and planned a partial shutdown of oil producing facilities in the state; the government however maintained it was in control of the fields.
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