Zimpapers Logo

JUBA. — Dozens of people have been killed and more than 120 000 displaced from their homes in a wave of fighting in Wau, one of South Sudan’s largest cities, almost a year after a peace agreement was signed to bring an end to civil war in the country. Clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and members of the Fertit tribe began on June 24, say sources in the city. The SPLA is predominantly made up members of the Dinka tribe, the largest in the country.

At least 43 people were killed in the fighting, according to a government statement on June 28. An independent count of casualties has not been done and the actual figure could be much higher than the government estimate.

“We’ve not been able to get access to the southern part of the town, which is apparently where most of the heavy artillery fire was,” Shantal Persaud, a spokesperson for the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), told Al Jazeera.

At St Mary’s Cathedral, one of several churches in the town, 13 people have been buried, Father Natale, a priest at the church, told Al Jazeera. The dead included a three-year-old child.

“A lot of people have been killed,” said Natale. “Dinka youths came to the town, some of them in uniform and others with spears and machetes. There were dead bodies on the streets.”

Although calm has been restored in Wau, an atmosphere of lawlessness prevails, says Natale. “The Dinka youths are looting people’s houses and taking everything they have. All the residential areas in the south and west of Wau are empty.” — Al Jazeera.