New Ethnic Dimension To South Sudan Conflict

A new report from Al Jazeera’s Anna Cavell,  examines a new ethnic dimension in South Sudan after her recent trip to Bentiu.

She said many people at a UN base in Bentiu, the capital of oil-producing Unity state, were reluctant to speak to journalists for fear of reprisals.

“Different groups from the Dinka and Nuer of South Sudan as well as Darfuris and Misseriya Arabs from Sudan live in Bentiu, so the conflict has now taken on an ethnic dimension, and people are now looking at their neighbours very differently.”

UN investigators said that hundreds of civilians were killed because of their ethnicity after rebel forces seized the town last week. The UN Mission in South Sudan condemned what it called “the targeted killings of civilians based on their ethnic origins and nationality”.

Thousands of people in South Sudan have been killed in violence and more than one million people have been forced to leave their homes since December when pro-Kiir troops and those loyal to Machar began to fight along ethnic lines after Machar was accused by Kiir of a failed coup.”  More here from Al Jazeera.