George Athor did not attend the January signing ceremony South Sudan ‘massacre killed 200’
George Athor did not attend the January signing ceremony Some 200 people were killed in a “massacre” in south Sudan last week, officials say.
Most of the dead were civilians, including children and others chased into a river by rebels, a minister said.
Previous estimates said that about 100 people had died when fighters loyal to rebel leader George Athor attacked.
The deaths come as the region prepares for independence from the north after last month’s referendum.
Some 99% of people voted to secede from the north.
A senior official of south Sudan’s ruling party accused the north of backing the rebel attacks.
The north has denied previous similar accusations.
The referendum on independence for the oil-rich south was part of a deal to end decades of north-south conflict.
Mr Athor took up arms last year, alleging fraud in state elections, but agreed to a ceasefire last month just before the historic vote.
The south’s Humanitarian Affairs Minister James Kok, who has just returned from the area, told the AP news agency that 201 people, had been killed in what he termed a “massacre”.
“They were chased into the river. I was the one who put them into a mass grave,” he said.
He said nearly 160 of the dead were civilians, such as children, the elderly and refugees.
Another senior official said 197 people had died.
Jonglei is the south’s most populous state.
The BBC’s Peter Martell in the southern capital, Juba, says the fighting is another sign of the challenges the south faces in bringing its people together and improving security.
The week-long referendum vote itself passed off peacefully, but tension remains high in parts of the oil-rich area which straddles the north and south.
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has promised to accept the outcome of the referendum.
Southern Sudan is to become the world’s newest independent state on 9 July.
Sudan: A country divided
Geography Ethnic groups Infant mortality Water & sanitation Education Food insecurity Oil fields
Show regions
The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. Southern Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.
Sudan’s arid northern regions are home mainly to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in Southern Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own traditional beliefs and languages.
The health inequalities in Sudan are illustrated by infant mortality rates. In Southern Sudan, one in 10 children die before their first birthday. Whereas in the more developed northern states, such as Gezira and White Nile, half of those children would be expected to survive.
The gulf in water resources between north and south is stark. In Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In the south, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of southerners have no toilet facilities whatsoever.
Throughout Sudan, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.
Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in Sudan. The residents of war-affected Darfur and Southern Sudan are still greatly dependent on food aid. Far more than in northern states, which tend to be wealthier, more urbanised and less reliant on agriculture.
Sudan exports billions of dollars of oil per year. Southern states produce more than 80% of it, but receive only 50% of the revenue, exacerbating tensions with the north. The oil-rich border region of Abyei is to hold a separate vote on whether to join the north or the south.
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