75 Killed in Rebel Attack in South Sudan State
Seventy-five people were killed on Saturday when government forces in the oil-rich South Sudanese Unity state repelled an attack by rebel militia, in which 15 civilians also died, the state's information minister said.
"There was a militia attack at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning (02:00-03:00 GMT) in Mayom county," said Gideon Gatpan Thoar, adding that another 18 were wounded.
Thoar said rebels, most of them fighting under the banner of the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), attacked Mayom town and that the majority of the civilian casualties were residents gunned down while "running for shelter."
"We are counting the bodies now but over 60 militias were killed and many more wounded," said Thoar, adding that 15 civilians were killed in the attack.
Among the dead was the notorious rebel fighter Colonel Ruadheal Gatwech, he said, adding that SPLA government forces also captured one soldier in Mayom town and three more in the east of the county.
"The situation is under control by the SPLA. The rebels are still being chased away," Thoar told Agence France Presse seven hours after the attack.
Thoar said the last serious attack in Unity was early October, when the rebel group was suspected to have laid an anti-tank mine that killed 20 people in a passenger bus, and before that another mine incident in September.
On Friday, the SSLA gave the U.N. and aid agencies one week to evacuate Unity state, promising to "violently resist the regime of Governor Deng Taban," who the rebels accuse of human rights abuses.
"SSLA is calling upon all NGOs and U.N. personnel to leave Unity State within a week for their own safety," the group said in a statement from their Mayom headquarters.
The rebels claimed Governor Taban ordered SPLA troops to confiscate 600 cattle from SSLA Commanders family members, who were allegedly detained in unknown locations and beaten.
Cattle are vital for a dowry under local tribal customs of the Nuer people.
Thoar denied the group claims. "All these allegations have no basis at all."
"They do with the intention of interrupting the peaceful program of disarmament and to recapture the civilian guns."
Thoar said the voluntary disarmament program had collected 1000 guns, over half of which came from Mayom County.
The rebel group is made up of forces formerly loyal to Peter Gadet, who accepted South Sudan President Salva Kiir's offer of amnesty in August, a month after the country gained independence from the north after a 22-year civil war.
While Gadet was reintegrated into the SPLA, an unknown number of men rejected the ceasefire, accusing their former leader and renegade SPLA general of accepting government bribes.
The U.N. Mine Action Coordination Centre has said it will ramp up efforts in Unity state due to the increase in incidents and the approach of the dry season, when rebel groups are more active.
Insecurity is one of the fledgling nation's biggest challenges.
Rebel militias in Unity state threaten not only the country's economic lifeblood but also aid access and the livelihood of many civilians in the largely pastoral state plagued by fear of mines and violence.
Dozens of aid agencies like Care International, The International Rescue Committee, Medecin Sans Frontieres, The International Committee of the Red Cross are working in Unity state alongside a large U.N. presence.