South Sudan: Terkeka county official says about 40 people were killed last Sunday in clashes over grazing land along border of Aliap and Terkeka

This week, all news reports at the website of Sudan Radio Service (SRS) have disappeared due to technical issues. Here is a report, received via email, from SRS, dated Thursday, November 19, 2009:

(Terkeka) - The commissioner of Terkeka county says about 40 people were killed last Sunday when the two communities clashed over grazing land along the border of Aliap and Terkeka counties.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Wednesday by phone from Terkeka, Commissioner Juma Ali said the incident happened when a pastoral community from Terkeka attacked a pastoral community from Aliap over contested grazing land.

[Juma Ali]: “It was last Sunday on the 15th, the Mundari and Dinka clashed in a place where cattle graze. It is a contested area, and of course there is a shortage of water, that’s why they all gathered there. When they gathered there, the misunderstanding arose. As you know, the Mundari and the Aliap Dinka have some grievances, that’s why they clashed. The Dinka were heavily armed and they overcame the Mundari. The Mundari killed about 9 people and wounded another 18 people. On the Mundari side, there was very heavy losses, about 31 men was shot dead but the number of wounded is not yet known."

Mr. Ali added that during the incident, the Aliap community claimed the aggressors from the Terkeka community abducted five women and four children and stole 20 cows.

In a telephone interview, the deputy governor of Lakes state, David Ngok, described how the injured were evacuated.

[David Ngok]: “Yesterday, the wounded were taken from Awerial to Bor town because there is no way of taking them to Rumbek due to the poor state of the road and the floods, so they were taken by motor boat to Bor town.”

Ngok appealed to the Government of Central Equatoria state to broker a peace agreement between the two communities.