Two days of clashes between south Sudanese troops and separate rebel militias have left at least 92 people dead, the army’s spokesman said yesterday, clouding the countdown to independence for the impoverished region.
Fighting yesterday morning between the army and a militia loyal to renegade southern general George Athor in troubled Jonglei state killed 14 rebels and seven soldiers, Philip Aguer told AFP.
He also said the toll from clashes in neighbouring Upper Nile state on Sunday had risen to 72, including 65 rebels, whom he accused of being in the service of the Khartoum government.
“There was fighting on Sunday between the SPLA and a former militia group under Mr Ulony, a militia commander who had been in the service of Khartoum for a long time,” said the spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
“There has also been fighting in Jonglei. George Athor’s men attacked the SPLA two days ago, and the SPLA responded by attacking two of their camps.
“Fourteen bodies from their side were found on the ground, and a large number of wounded,” he said.
Mr Athor confirmed that there had been heavy fighting at Korwac and Patai, two of his camps in northern Jonglei. He said that 172 southern soldiers had been killed in the fighting and two army tanks destroyed.
Mr Aguer dismissed that death toll, insisting that only seven soldiers had died. Potentially of greater concern for the fledgling nation, which is due to achieve international recognition in July, Mr Athor also claimed that Mr Ulony was under his command, raising the prospect of a coordinated rebellion in the region.
“We are both fighting the SPLA. We reached a peace agreement with the government on January 6. But they reneged on their promises so now we are defending ourselves,” he told AFP.
Troops loyal to Mr Athor launched a devastating attack on the southern army just a month ago in which more than 200 people died.
Mr Aguer said that cooperation between the two rebel leaders was a possibility, given that both were “pro-Khartoum.”
But he said the clashes had taken place separately and insisted that the SPLA was capable of stabilising the region.
“I believe the SPLA will stabilise the situation in Upper Nile and Jonglei. It’s just a question of time,” he added.
The clashes with Mr Ulony’s men took place after they attacked a group of SPLA soldiers who had gone to the market in Owach, a town west of the Upper Nile state capital Malakal, killing one and wounding one, according to the SPLA spokesman.
The SPLA then attacked their camp at around midday.
Sources in Malakal confirmed there had been fighting in Owach but said the situation was now calm and put the death toll at no more than 15.
Mr Aguer said the army had recovered 37 AK-47 assault rifles, which he charged had “definitely” been supplied by the north.
Northern army officials were not immediately available to respond to the accusations.
The latest clashes come despite the southern government offering to let the militias join the army as part of President Salva Kiir’s amnesty to rebel fighters in October.
Relations between north and south Sudan seemed to have improved during January’s referendum on southern independence, but a string of deadly rebel attacks in Upper Nile and Jonglei states since last month has revived the war of words between the two sides.
Mr Athor’s men signed a ceasefire with the southern army shortly before the landmark referendum, but he himself stayed away from the signing ceremony in the regional capital Juba.
Southern officials have accused him of using the ceasefire period to recruit more fighters.
During the devastating 1983-2005 civil war between north and south, Khartoum armed militias among southern ethnic groups opposed to the SPLA, which has repeatedly accused the northern authorities of maintaining the policy in a bid to destabilise the region.
Khartoum has in turn accused the southern authorities of backing rebel groups in the western region of Darfur, something they deny.