South Sudan: the state that fell apart in a week

The first western journalist into South Sudan reports from Juba on the brutal and sudden descent into civil war
A young cattle herder from the Dinka tribe carries his AK 4 rifle near !umbek" capital of the #akes State in central South Sudan$ %hotograph& 'oran Tomasevic(!euters

Daniel Howden in Juba )onday *+ December *,-+ A week ago" Simon K" a *,.year.old student living in the capital of South Sudan" was arrested by men in military uniforms$ /e was asked a 0uestion that has taken on deadly importance in the world1s newest country in the past seven days& incholdi 2 34hat is your name53 in Dinka" the language of the country1s president and its largest ethnic group$ Those who" like Simon" were unable to answer" risked being identified as 6uer" the ethnic group of the former vice.president now leading the armed opposition and facing the brunt of what insiders are describing as the world1s newest civil war$ Simon K was taken to a police station in the 'udele market district of Juba" where he was marched past several dead bodies and locked in a room with other young men" all 6uer$ 34e counted ourselves and found we were *7*"3 he told the 'uardian$ 3Then they put guns in through the windows and started to shoot us$3 The massacre continued for two days with soldiers returning at intervals to shoot again if they saw any sign of life$ Simon was one of -* men to survive the assault by

covering themselves in the bodies of the dead and dying$

A displaced family from South Sudan1s 6uer tribe" who fled their home in fear of ethnic killing by the Dinka.led government" erects a makeshift shelter inside the 8nited 6ations )ission in Sudan facility in Jabel$ %hotograph& James Akena(!euters Simon spoke from inside the 86 compound that has become an emergency sanctuary to the remaining 6uer in the capital$ Sitting on a filthy mattress by the side of a dirt road" with bandages covering bullet wounds in his stomach and legs" he recalled& 39t was horrible" because to survive 9 had to cover myself with the bodies of dead people" and during the two days" the bodies started to smell really bad$3 9n the space of seven desperate days" the 86 base has been transformed from a logistics hub for an aid operation into a s0ualid sanctuary for more than -,",,, people$ Amid the confusion of bodies and belongings" a handmade sign hangs from the rolls of ra:or wire$ 3The lord is our best defender"3 it reads$ ;ut there is no sign here of the lord1s defence" as the country that gained independence in *,-- with huge international fanfare and support has come apart in the space of a week$ The latest violence began after a fight between Dinka and 6uer soldiers in the presidential guard on -7 December" igniting a simmering political power struggle in South Sudan1s ruling party and sparking widespread ethnic killings$ Juba resident 'atluak Kual" who has bullet wounds in both arms and a prosthetic foot from the *,.year battle that split Sudan and created an independent south two years ago under %resident Salva Kiir" says the country is once more at war$

8nited 6ations )ission in Sudan personnel guard South Sudanese people displaced by fighting in Jabel" on the outskirts of Juba" the South Sudan capital$ %hotograph& James Akena(!euters 3<veryone here has lost someone =in the last week>"3 he said" gesturing out over the multitude with the finger he broke five days ago disarming a Dinka militiaman who was trying to kill him$ 34e have seen our daughters" our brothers" our mothers killed simply because they are 6uer$ To me this is already a civil war$3 The reverberations of the wave of targeted killings that began in the fledgling capital are being felt throughout the country" where they have sparked revenge attacks and copycat atrocities$ 'enerals who have mutinied have sei:ed the capital of South Sudan1s largest state" Jonglei" and its main oil.producing area" 8nity State$ ?ormer vice.president !iek )achar threw his support behind the armed opposition and is now its de facto leader$ @n Sunday a full.scale tank battle was being fought between opposing factions in the South1s army in the far western reaches of oil.rich" swampy 8pper 6ile$ 39t would have been difficult one week ago to imagine that things would unravel to this eAtent"3 said the 861s head of humanitarian affairs in South Sudan" Toby #an:er$ The fighting has already claimed thousands" if not tens of thousands" of civilian lives$ /undreds of thousands of South Sudanese have fled into the bush or returned to home villages" according to the 86$ The official death toll of 7,," which corresponds with the number of dead in a single Juba hospital siA days ago" is being dismissed by eAperts$ A veteran aid worker" who has been assessing the scale and nature of the killings from sources nationwide" said the real figure was 3in the tens of thousands3$ @n )onday" )achar claimed his forces had gained control of all the major oil fields in 8nity and 8pper 6ile states$ The information minister" )ichael )akuei" told !euters this was 3wishful thinking3$ 9n Juba" 'atwech T remembers how" last Tuesday" he ran for his life when soldiers

attacked his home area of /ai !eferendum$ Some of the men outran the younger ones" who were caught by men in uniform$ 3They caught the boys and 9 stopped to watch$ They counted them and there were *- boys" as young as him"3 he said" pointing at a -7.year.old$ 3They tied their hands behind their backs and killed them$3 Bien K" *C" was at home last )onday evening at around -,pm in the Jabarona area on the outskirts of the capital when he heard shooting$ As it came closer he decided to hide at his brother1s home$ There were five of them inside the simple structure& his brother" his brother1s wife" one.year.old niece and another siA.year.old girl" a cousin$ Bien recalls the moment just after midnight when the tracks of a tank ripped through the walls and crushed the one.year.old$ 3The tanks came and ran over the house"3 he said$ 3The men escaped but the woman and girls were killed$3 8nlike some of Juba1s neighbourhoods" which have divided along ethnic lines" Jabarona is a miAed area and Bien believes the tank operators had guides showing them where 6uer people were living$ 9n neighbourhoods such as )angaten" /ai !eferendum" Area -, and <den Dity" it is now easy to tell where the 6uer community lived$ /alfway down the main market street of )angaten" a dust.blown compleA of tin.shack shops and rickety stalls" the bustle and activity stops$ )ost businesses have been ransacked" their rough shelves stripped of everythingE stalls have been burned to the ground$ Drossing into /ai !eferendum" one of the highest density settlements in Juba" is now a ghost town of abandoned houses$ @n Saturday" a few laid.back looters could be seen loading a meagre haul of plastic chairs" pots and foam mattresses on to three.wheelers$ 9n some houses nearby plates of food were left behind" clothes have been scattered where people fled$ @nly broken plastic chairs" empty tubs of milk powder and smashed fans lie in the dirt$

86 peacekeepers distribute boAes of food to displaced people in South Sudan$ %hotograph& Anna Adhikari(A?%('etty 9mages

Drossing the boundary into <den Dity" the atmosphere changed$ %lainclothes soldiers" one of them with a plastic.handled kitchen knife in the pocket of his shorts and a machete visible under his football shirt stopped and 0uestioned any outsiders$ @nly *, metres away was the charred corpse of a man lying with his legs splayed outside the looted <den Sports bar$ 6earby" a nervous family had returned to their mud hut home" known as a tukul" to visit )oses1 aged mother who is too ill to make the journey to the 86 base less than a mile away$ /e was determined to leave before nightfall" when a dusk.to.dawn curfew imposed by the government begins$ 3The army is coming at night"3 he said$ 3Bou hear the guns going tuk.tuk.tuk$3 !ose" who emerged from the tukul where )oses1 mother is bed.ridden" said& 3<verybody has been running because of war$ 4e1re also running$3 South Sudan1s government" which has received billions of dollars in foreign aid and is home to the largest 86 peacekeeping operation in the world outside the Democratic !epublic of Dongo" continues to insist that massacres in Juba have not happened$ The president" whose guards sparked the first fighting on -7 December" has assured the South Sudanese that his forces will protect civilians$ %hilip Aguer" a spokesman for the Sudan %eople1s #iberation Army" the civil war guerrilla force that is now the national army" denied any orchestrated attacks had taken place$ /e said he was unaware of the slaughter at )angaten police station and blamed any deaths on 3criminal elements3 who had eAploited the chance to loot and kill afforded by the crisis$ 3<ven though some of these criminals are wearing army uniforms does not necessarily mean they are part of the army"3 he said$ /e denied any national army soldiers were involved& 36o S%#A soldiers are involved in this criminal activity$3 4ith regard to those carrying out the atrocities" he added& 34e are ready to arrest them and take them to court$3 ;ut this description of rogue elements does not tally with the account of !iek 4" who was until Saturday a serving member of the presidential guard" known to Jubans as the 3Tigers3$ A three.year veteran of the multi.ethnic unit that was meant to bind the diverse communities of what had been southern Sudan" he was not openly known as a 6uer to many of his colleagues and does not bear the traditional 3'aar3 scarring that many 6uer men have on their faces$ 6ow in hiding in the 86 base" he described how fighting between Dinka and 6uer members of the Tigers last Sunday night had spilled over into attacks on civilian 6uers all over the city$ 3They took people who were not soldiers and tied their hands and shot them$ 9 saw this with my own eyes" 9 was there wearing the same uniform as them$3

Boung men from the Dinka community" many of them with no military training" were given uniforms and guns from various armouries around the capital" including one located at %resident Kiir1s own compound" known as J-" he says$ 39t is soldiers who are doing this and militia from Dinka boys who have been given guns from the Tigers"3 he said$ !iek 4 said that his Dinka colleagues could not act without the authority of their commander and that they were 3the same soldiers that are killing people at night3$ !iek 4" who decided to abandon his post in the president1s compound at the weekend as he feared for his life and was horrified at the murder of civilians" said that the scale of the killings was being covered up$ 3 TheyF are using the curfew to remove the bodies"3 he said$ /e described how he had seen 3large trucks3 full of bodies" some of which were taken to grave sites dug with bulldo:ers" while others had been dumped in the river 6ile at two points& one near the ;ilpam barracks and one at Juba bridge$ These reports have been corroborated by fishermen who have seen the bodies up on the river bank$ 3The numbers they are saying are completely wrong" people have been killed everywhere"3 !iek 4 said$ The 6uer who have survived in Juba" numbering *,",,," are now crammed into the city1s two 86 bases$ Their fate is matched by another -4",,, civilians from other ethnic groups sheltering with the 86 in South Sudan1s other main towns$ )any of the 6uer crowded into the main 86 mission base in Juba said they were sure the peacekeepers would protect them despite the evacuation over the weekend of all non.critical 86 staff$ 6ot everyone feels safe" though$ 4earing a dusty pinstriped suit jacket and apologising for not having showered in siA days" 7-.year.old %eter ;ey was unsure$ /e has watched in recent days as one evacuation flight after another has taken foreign nationals to safety from the airport on the other side of the fence$ 34e see from history that the 86 has left people behind before in !wanda"3 he said$ 3They put their own people on helicopters and left the people who died$3