4 Hacked to Death as Rival South Sudanese Refugees Fight in Kiryandongo

Police and the army have deployed at a refugee camp in Kiryandongo District after clashes among rival South Sudanese refugee groups left four people dead and others seriously injured.

Kiryandongo District police commander Joseph Bakaleke Gwido said rival pastoralist groups from South Sudan – the Dinka and Nuer – had  a misunderstanding that resulted in the fighting.

According to different witness accounts, the two rival groups clashed at a football game on Wednesday and the following day, there was a revenge attack by one of the aggrieved groups, leading to the deaths.

The revenge attack involved using machetes and spears.

Mr Bakaleke said two people died on the spot while two others died from Kiryandongo hospital where they were rushed for medication.

 “We have arrested so far 63 people and there is still heavy deployment in the camp to manage the situation,” he said on Saturday.

In the past, the Dinka and Nuer have competed over grazing land and water for their cattle in their home country. 

However, in 2013, the dismissal of the former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer, by the South Sudanese president Salva Kiir, a Dinka, functioned as a catalyst for mass violence, claiming more than thousand victims. Thousands of Dink and Nuer have fled to Uganda.

Mr Charles Itairyoki, Kiryandongo LC5 chairperson, said there is difference in the ideology between those two ethnic groups which is causing a lot of problem between them.

“They pay allegiance to their country and they had a very small argument which resulted into lost of lives,” he said.