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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'Piles And Piles' Of Bodies In S. Sudan Slaughter
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- The townsfolk believed the mosque was safe. They crammed inside as rebel forces in South Sudan took control of the town from government troops. But it wasn't safe. Robbers grabbed their cash and mobile phones. Then gunmen came and opened fire on everyone, young and old.
The U.N. says hundreds of civilians were killed in the massacre last week in Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan's oil-producing Unity state, a tragic reflection of longstanding ethnic hostilities in the world's newest country.
"Piles and piles" of bodies were left behind after the shootings, said Toby Lanzer, the top U.N. aid official in South Sudan. Many were in the mosque. Others were in the hospital. Still more littered the streets. The violence appears to have been incited in part by calls on the radio for revenge attacks, including rapes.
The attack, which targeted members of certain ethnic groups, was a disturbing echo of what happened two decades ago in another country in eastern Africa. Rwanda is marking the 20th anniversary this month of a genocide that killed an estimated 1 million people and also saw orders to kill broadcast over the radio.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AF_SOUTH_SUDAN_VIOLENCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-22-17-29-54
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Up there with Libya, Egypt, and Haiti's cholera epidemic.
Remember south sudan was created because...why was that again?
Igel
(35,356 posts)and voted for it in a referendum that was conduced after a decade or more of civil war against having Islamic law and Sudanese sovereignty imposed on them.
I guess the proper response from TPTB would have been to say, "Sorry, Dinka and Nuer, you're not civilized enough or responsible enough for independence. You need Sudan to coach you a bit more on being civilized and democratic before you can be independent."
Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. The on thing that really unified them is rejecting Sudan.
Autumn
(45,120 posts)I doubt it.
Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)Promoting agressive expansionism of NATO in Europe the latest NEOCON project.
redqueen
(115,103 posts)seveneyes
(4,631 posts)British Ambassador Ian Hughes said Tuesday that the killings are a clear violation of international law.
Understatement of the decade. Whomever is leading these massacres should be eligible for an appointment with a drone.