The UN has begun investigating after hundreds of people, including three aid workers, were reportedly killed in the latest round of intercommunal violence in South Sudan.
A Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) staff member and two staff members of another unnamed humanitarian organisation were killed after intense fighting erupted in and around the town of Pieri in Jonglei State in the north-east of the country on May 16, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Hundreds of people were reportedly killed and wounded, many more forced to flee the area and several aid workers were still unaccounted for, the UN organisation said.
Intercommunal violence has broken out several times this year in Jonglei, an area that has experienced years of food insecurity and was affected by flooding last year.
Humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan Alain Noudéhou called for an end to the ongoing violence, which was disrupting life-saving assistance and COVID-19 response in many parts of the country.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the killing of three aid workers in Pieri and call for those responsible to be brought swiftly to justice," Mr Noudéhou said.
"The Government, all parties and communities must step up efforts to protect humanitarians who are taking great risks to their safety in order to provide much-needed assistance to the most vulnerable people in South Sudan."
Dozens taken to MSF hospital
A statement from MSF confirmed the death of a South Sudanese member of staff and said that two more staff were injured. All three were working at an MSF primary healthcare centre in the area.
According to the statement, more than 50 wounded people, including the two MSF staff members, were brought to the MSF hospital in Lankien, approximately 50 kilometres north of Pieri.
"We have reasons to believe that the number of wounded people is very high," said MSF deputy of head of mission in South Sudan, Steve Mackay.
"So far, we have received 56 people with gunshot wounds but we fear that many more could be dead and over 100 wounded in and around Pieri.
"Our team is very concerned that other wounded people will not be able to access lifesaving medical care due to limited access to medical services in the area."
According to AFP, a member of the Lou Nuer group and former local official in the area, Moses Majok Gatluak, said 211 people were killed and 300 injured, but that toll could not be independently verified.
He said the Murle had attacked the Lou Nuer villages.
UN patrol investigating violence
A statement from the UN Mission in South Sudan released on Wednesday said a patrol of military and civilian peacekeepers had reached Pieri to investigate the reports of casualties from the fighting between armed Murle youth and Lou Nuer fighters.
The patrol spoke to relatives of people who were killed, injured and fled their homes and saw "many" huts burnt to the ground.
However, the statement said that verifying the number of casualties was difficult given conflicting reports and claims.
"While politically motivated conflict has reduced in South Sudan, intercommunal fighting has increased, causing massive suffering for families who are trying to rebuild their lives after the devastation caused by years of civil war," said UN special representative to South Sudan David Shearer.
Some of the violence could be attributed to the failure of political parties to agree on the appointment of governors to the 10 states, including Jonglei, which had created a power vacuum, Mr Shearer said.
"Appointments need to be made urgently. We strongly urge the Government and other parties to compromise and agree on these critical positions so the states can take measures to prevent conflict, build peace, and assist with the COVID-19 response," he said.
Clashes only the latest in a series of incidents in the area
Violence has erupted several times in Jonglei State in recent months.
In March, the MSF healthcare centre in Pieri treated 68 wounded people in less than 12 hours, many of them in critical condition.
"The fresh outbreak of intercommunal violence is being fuelled by the economic deprivation caused by devastating floods which wiped away many homes and killed thousands of cattle which families rely on for their survival," said Mr Shearer.
"Those economic factors underlie tit-for-tat revenge attacks, the worst of which occurred in mid-February, with a Lou Nuer offensive on Murle communities that resulted in hundreds of deaths to avenge persistent Murle raids on Lou Nuer villages."
Mr MacKay said the rainy season was starting and without proper shelter, people were even more exposed to diseases like malaria, respiratory tract infections and acute watery diarrhoea that kills thousands every year.
"All this without taking into account the added complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic which has started to spread across the country," he said.
