She said there were 6,000 armed youth from one of the Jonglei tribes, the Lou Nuer, that was marching on the town of Pibor where another community, the Murle community, was concentrated.

'We deemed that there was a very serious risk to civilians and in support of the Government of South Sudan’s primary responsibility to protect civilians, we have gone ahead and deployed a battalion-size force in Pibor with the aim of deterring violence and helping the Government to protect its own people,” Grande said.

She recalled that several days earlier, Lou Nuer fighters raided the town of Lukangol, sending thousands of civilians fleeing towards Pibor.

Grande also noted that an estimated 500 members of the 6,000-strong column of armed men were now on the outskirts of Pibor.

'We were so alarmed by the situation that during the course of the afternoon we have reinforced our positions in Pibor. All this is in support of the Government of South Sudan’s primary responsibility to protect. We are there to help them do that,' she said.

The UN official disclosed that the government had also deployed a battalion of its army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), inside Pibor, and that the troops had also taken up positions in the town’s periphery to deter an attack.

She said South Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar, was also leading an initiative to bridge the differences between the Lou Nuer and the Murle communities, including encouraging the armed men to disband and go home'.

She also said that Jonglei state had been blighted by a series of reprisal attacks between the two communities, which had a history of animosity over grazing land, water sources and cattle raids during which women and children were often abducted.

'There are a whole host of concerns that have separated these communities and it is very important that the Government is taking the initiative to find a way to bridge these grievances and to stop the violence altogether,” Grande said.

She, however, said that despite UNMISS’ “quick” and “robust” deployment in Pibor, the mission faced considerable logistical challenges, particularly the shortage of helicopters.

'Basically the only way into Pibor at the moment is by air. We did manage two days ago to get two armoured personnel carriers into the town, but it took them more than a day and half to arrive.

'The convoy of trucks that we were using to try and reinforce our troops… simply did not make it, they got stuck in the mud and they could not enter the town,' she stated.

'At this point our only way in to support our troops on the ground is through air assets. However, the mission simply does not have sufficient number of air assets. It is a major constraint and it is affecting our operational effectiveness on the ground,” she said.

More than 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed in ethnic clashes within South Sudan this year, with Jonglei one of the states worst affected by the violence. Thousands more civilians have been displaced from their homes.

PANA recalled that last Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern over the ethnic tension in South Sudan and called on the warring groups to eschew violence and work towards peaceful co-existence.

Pana 31/12/2011

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