South Sudanese Civil War (2013-)
The South Sudanese Civil War is an ongoing conflict in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. It began on the evening of 15 December 2013, at the meeting of the National Liberation Council meeting at Nyakuron, when Opposition leaders Dr. Riek Machar, Pagan Amum and Rebecca Nyandeng voted to boycott the Sunday December 15, 2013 meeting of the National Liberation Council (NLC). President Salva Kiir ordered the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Major General Marial Ciennoung, commander of the Presidential Guard (The Tiger Battalion) to leave the meeting venue and return to the barracks to disarm the troops. After disarming all ethnicities within the guard, Marial ordered that the Dinka members be re-armed. His deputy, from the Nuer ethnicity, began to question this order and a fight ensued when surrounding officers saw the commotion. The Nuer soldiers also re-armed themselves. Fighting erupted between the Dinka elements of the Presidential Guard and the Nuer elements. This lasted from Sunday night until Monday afternoon. Civilian casualties began when the Dinka elements of the SPLM began targeting Nuer civilians in the capital city of Juba.
President Salva Kiir has called it a coup attempt and announced that it had been put down the next day, but fighting again erupted on 16 December and spread beyond the capital, Juba, to the region around Jonglei which is prone to ethnic conflict. Early estimates stated that at least 1,000 people were reported to have been killed and over 800 other people were injured. in Juba but this number has now been cited to be much higher than initially thought as Human Rights Watch article cites eye witness accounts of large numbers of bodies in Juba on December 17, and their removal in trucks to an undisclosed location December 18. Eye witness accounts also cite SPLM Dinka troops assisted by guides in house to house searches to Nuer homes and killing civilians in Juba. Similar door to door searches of members of the Nuer ethnicity have been reported in the government held Capital city Upper Nile State, Malakal. A final death toll of civilian casualties in government held cities of Juba, Malakal, and Bentiu has not been released.
Chinese UN Peacekeeping Contingent Arrives in Juba, South Sudan, Feb 2015
Taken on: 2015-02-27
Source: UNMISS Photo/JC Mcilwaine
Government Troops Patrol Deserted Streets of Makalal
Taken on: 2014-01-27
Source: UN Photo/Isaac Billy
Armed Citizens in Awerial with Hookah
Taken on: 2014-01-16
Source: European Commission DG ECHO
