JUBA, South Sudan — Fighting between armed youths from rival communities in central South Sudan killed about 70 people, including four soldiers, and overwhelmed the main hospital in Rumbek with gunshot victims, officials said, according to The Associated Press and Radio Tamazuj.
The violence swept through the Rumbek area of Lakes state on Friday as government soldiers and U.N. peacekeepers tried to keep order. South Sudan’s Information Ministry said about 71 people were killed, according to a preliminary report, but that the exact toll was unverified, Radio Tamazuj reported. The four soldiers killed included a captain, the ministry said.
“We were overwhelmed with the gunshot patients,” Teran Madit, a clinical officer at Rumbek State Hospital, told the AP. He said the hospital received more than 50 wounded people, most with chest injuries, and that some left again amid rumors they could be killed there. U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Nepalese peacekeepers deployed a rapid response force to help protect the hospital and humanitarian compounds.
The fighting pitted armed youths of the Pakam community in Rumbek North County against those of the Nyang community in Rumbek Central County, both part of the Dinka ethnic group. Disputes over cattle and grazing land, along with revenge killings, have fueled repeated violence in Lakes state, though the immediate cause was unclear. The government said troops and police had brought Rumbek under control, arrested four armed civilians and urged communities to avoid retaliation.
The bloodshed comes as South Sudan prepares for its first national elections since independence in 2011, now scheduled for Dec. 22. President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional government on Sept. 22 and appointed a caretaker administration. Analyst Machot Amuom told the AP that the dissolution left key local posts vacant. “The caretaker county commissioners have not yet been appointed, and the armed youths took advantage of it,” he said.
Sources: The Associated Press (via ABC News), Radio Tamazuj
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