Two days of fighting in Southern Sudan between the region’s army and a rebel faction killed 105 people, a southern army spokesman said Friday, in a reminder that violence can still explode in the volatile region despite its successful independence referendum.
A former high-ranking southern army member who had previously rebelled against the southern regional government attacked the towns of Fangak and Dor in the Upper Nile state on Wednesday, breaking a January cease-fire, said Col. Philip Aguer, the army spokesman.
Aguer said 105 people were killed in the two towns: 39 civilians, 24 southern police and soldiers, and 42 of rebel commander George Athor’s men. AP attempted to reach Athor and his top aide for comment but the phone calls to the remote region did not go through.
The aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said Friday it is treating dozens of wounded.
About 50 patients have been admitted to aid group’s health facilities.
“We are mainly seeing patients with gunshot wounds, and many have significant abdominal and limb injuries,” said Tim Baerwaldt, head of the group’s mission in Southern Sudan.
Medical supplies and personnel have been flown to Malakal, the major town in Upper Nile state, the medical group said.
The violence comes the same week final results were announced from Southern Sudan’s Jan. 9-15 independence referendum. Nearly 99 percent of ballots were cast for independence, setting the region on course to become the world’s newest country in July.
The fresh fighting, though, is a reminder that renegade commanders abound in a region that suffered from two decades of war. The 1983-2005 north-south civil war killed more than 2 million people.
More @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/af_southern_sudan_violence/print