At Least 20 Thousand People Displaced In Jonglei State

17 February 2011 – (Jonglei state) – Authorities in Fangak County in Jonglei state say at least 20 thousand people have been displaced following attacks last week between General George Athor’s forces and the SPLA in Pangak county.

Fangak Commissioner, James Maluit spoke to SRS on Thursday from Fangak.

[James Maluit]: “200 people have been killed, 900 wounded, 20,000 displaced and a 1000 more are missing. We have a high number of casualties and we are still looking for people now, and, we don’t know where they are. The whole government that I am running has been killed. We have lost the executive director for the county headquarter, the director for taxation, the director for prison service, some of my bodyguards have been killed in that attack. The humanitarian personnel came to the headquarters for assessment but they have not delivered the services yet.”

Commissioner James Maluit accused GoSS and Athor’s forces for the loss of lives and the displaced people in Fangak area.

[James Maluit]: “It is negligence from the government, because we have constantly been reporting the activities of George Athor including raping, looting of cattle and violation of the ceasefire. Again, the government is to blame for bringing Athor’s forces near to civilians especially in Kolnyang and Door. The government should not have directed Athor’s forces without the guidance from the SPLA forces. There are no SPLA forces in the county headquarters. So we still blame the government as having neglected the people of Fangak County. This is genocide by Athor and we blame the government.”

Southern Sudan officials say they are concerned that there may be more violence in Jonglei.