South Sudan rebels take Bor town after 'coup attempt'

[al-Hasani]

The UN estimates 20,000 people have taken refuge in UN compounds in Juba

South Sudanese rebels have taken over a key town, the military has said, as fighting continues after Sunday's reported coup attempt.

"Our soldiers have lost control of Bor to the force of Riek Machar," said army spokesman Philip Aguer.

President Salva Kiir has accused Mr Machar, the former vice-president, of plotting a coup - a claim he denies.

The unrest, which began in the capital Juba, has killed some 500 people and sparked fears of widespread conflict.

Since independence, several rebel groups have taken up arms and one of these is said to have been involved in the capture of Bor.

The UN has expressed concern about a possible civil war between the country's two main ethnic groups, the Dinka of Mr Kiir and the Nuer of Mr Machar.

The United Nations has called for political dialogue to end the crisis, and the Ugandan government says its president has been asked by the UN to mediate between the two sides.

The UN peacekeeping mission says it is sheltering civilians in five state capitals, including Juba, Bor and Bentiu, the main town of the oil-producing state of Unity.

Britain and the US have both sent planes to airlift their nationals out of the country, and a US defence official described the situation as "getting ugly".

Gun battles

On Wednesday the mayor of Bor, Nicholas Nhial Majak, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that violence had spread there from Juba, 200km (125 miles) away.

Bor is the capital of Jonglei state, and even before the current unrest, it was seen as one of the most volatile areas of South Sudan.

Overnight there were reports of gun battles in the town, as renegade officers fought with troops still loyal to the president.

"There was shooting last night... we don't have information on casualties or the displaced in the town, as operations are ongoing," Col Aguer told reporters.

The army said Peter Gadet Yak - the commander of Division 8 unit - had rebelled, taking with him an unknown number of soldiers.

BBC Africa security correspondent Moses Rono says it is not immediately clear if troops loyal to Mr Machar are working together with them, or if in fact they are the same soldiers.

But he says this is likely, because of the history of relations between the two, and also the fact they are both from the Nuer community.

Also, in 1991, when Mr Machar broke off from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which now governs South Sudan, Mr Gadet went with him.

This latest violence is not confined to Jonglei.

Tensions are also said to be high in the states of Unity and Upper Nile, but in Juba - where the violence started - the situation appears to be calmer, with Col Aguer saying "the streets are busy and shops are open".

President Salva Kiir has blamed the violence on a group of soldiers who support Mr Machar, saying they tried to take power by force on Sunday night.

But Mr Machar denied allegations that he had tried to stage a coup, telling the BBC: "Salva wanted to frame me. I had to flee. They are hunting me down."

He blamed Sunday's fighting on a conflict between members of the presidential guard, and added that government troops had used the incident to arrest some of his supporters.

South Sudan has struggled to achieve a stable government since becoming independent from Sudan in 2011.

The oil-rich country remains ethnically and politically divided, with many armed groups active.

After a peace deal was signed in 2005, Mr Machar was appointed vice-president of the South Sudan regional government.

He retained the position after independence in 2011 but was dropped in July when the whole cabinet was sacked.

BBC News - South Sudan rebels take Bor town after 'coup attempt'

See the video in the link and there is a bit more information.

Unfortunately more problems in Sudan and Africa that we nearly never hear about in the media. Africa is such an cursed continent despite the natural beauty and big potential. I hope that it will change in the very near future.

 

[al-Hasani]

Here are some maps of Sudan from the same article:

Both Sudan and the South are reliant on oil revenue, which accounts for 98% of South Sudan's budget. They have fiercely disagreed over how to divide the oil wealth of the former united state - at one time production was shutdown for more than a year. Some 75% of the oil lies in the South but all the pipelines run north.

The two Sudans are very different geographically. The great divide is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.

Sudan's arid north is mainly home to Arabic-speaking Muslims. But in South Sudan there is no dominant culture. The Dinkas and the Nuers are the largest of more than 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs, alongside Christianity and Islam.

In the Sudanese states of Khartoum, River Nile, and Gezira states, two-thirds of people have access to piped drinking water and pit latrines. In South Sudan, boreholes and unprotected wells are the main drinking sources. More than 80% of South Sudanese have no toilet facilities.

Throughout the two Sudans, access to primary school education is strongly linked to household earnings. In the poorest parts of the south, less than 1% of children finish primary school. Whereas in the wealthier north, up to 50% of children complete primary level education.

Conflict and poverty are the main causes of food insecurity in both countries. In Sudan, many of the residents of war-affected Darfur and the border states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan depend on food aid. The UN says about 2.8m people in South Sudan required food aid in 2013.

We Hijazi people will always have a special place for our neighbors in Sudan and hope for peace and prosperity. Sudanese people are very warm and friendly people.

 

[al-Hasani]

This is of a more personal story. When I hear South Sudan I always think about Manute Bol who was an 2.31 meter tall basketball player that played in the NBA. Very skinny but one of the tallest NBA players ever and humans. He was a very good person and unfortunately he passed away 3 years ago.

He did a lot of humanitarian work in South Sudan.

He belonged to the DINKA people which are the tallest people on earth on average:

Dinka people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Here is a English documentary about him:

Here is a Spanish documentary about him:

[Informe Robinson] La historia de Manute Bol - YouTube

Video about his basketball:

Manute Bol - Welcome to the Block Party - YouTube

 

[al-Hasani]

Q&A: South Sudan clashes

6 January 2014 Last updated at 13:27 GMT

More than 1,000 people are believed to have died in clashes in South Sudan which started as fighting between rival army factions. President Salva Kiir says it was a coup attempt, blaming soldiers loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar for the trouble, but Mr Machar denies this.

Where is South Sudan?

South Sudan is the world's newest nation, in the centre of Africa bordered by six countries. It is rich in oil, but following decades of civil war it is also one of the least developed regions on earth - only 15% of its citizens own a mobile phone and there very few tarmac roads in an area bigger than Spain and Portugal combined.

This makes the Nile River, which flows through regional centres, an important transport and trade route. Cattle are also central to life in South Sudan - a person's wealth is measured by the size of their herd.

Why are there tensions?

Since South Sudan overwhelmingly voted to break away from Sudan in 2011, the government's main concern has been to get oil flowing following disagreements with Khartoum - production only resumed in April.

There have been a few small armed rebellions, border clashes and deadly cattle feuds - but these have all taken place far from the capital, Juba. Signs of friction within the governing SPLM party came in July when President Salva Kiir, from the majority Dinka group, sacked his deputy Riek Machar, who is from the second largest group, the Nuer.

Was there a coup plot?

It is not clear. It started as a political squabble and has escalated into ethnic violence. President Kiir believes there was and has pointed the finger of blame at Mr Machar.

He denies the accusations, but has publicly criticised Mr Kiir for failing to tackle corruption and said in July that he would challenge him for the SPLM's leadership. Mr Machar also has a chequered history with the SPLM, leading a breakaway faction in the 1990s.

Could it descend into civil war?

That's the warning of the president of the UN Security Council, Gerard Araud, who said it had the potential to be a "fully-fledged war throughout the country" between the Dinka and Nuer communities.

Almost 200,000 people are said to have fled their homes and there are reports of mass killings along ethnic lines. Forces backing Mr Machar have seized the key towns of Bor and Bentiu, capital of the oil-producing Unity State.

The country is awash with guns after the decades of conflict and there is a history of tension between rival ethnic groups, which politicians could whip up if they believe that could help them gain, or remain in, power.

What is being done?

Following East African mediation efforts, the two sides are in Ethiopia for ceasefire talks as the first step towards resolving the conflict, but progress is slow and fighting continues to rage.

There are also fears a reduction in oil production could have repercussions on world markets. Many foreign nationals have been evacuated.

The UN, which has more than 7,500 troops on the ground and has requested reinforcements, has promised it will not abandon civilians but experts say its forces will not be able to prevent violence across such a vast territory.

BBC News - Q&A: South Sudan clashes