In Pictures

Murle women flee tribal violence in S Sudan

As many as 100,000 people are estimated to have fled their homes as fighting surges in Jonglei.

Murle women wait for food in the small town of Pibor, in South Sudan(***)s Jonglei state.

10 Aug 2013

Gumuruk, South Sudan – Telling stories of a brutal ethnic conflict – massacres of women and children and the total destruction of isolated villages – a handful of Murle tribeswomen have made it across the remote and boggy landscape to this tiny ramshackle town.

They say that hundreds, possibly thousands, of people have been killed in fighting between the Murle and the Lou Nuer tribes – with claims the South Sudanese army is backing the Lou Nuer.

South Sudan region suffers mass displacement

The army, which has a base in the school here in Gumuruk, vehemently denies such claims.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, the French medical charity also known as Doctors Without Borders, reports that at least 100,000 people have been forced from their homes in a new surge of fighting between the tribes.

But as the rainy season here drags on, the huge, remote state is largely inaccessible, and it is nearly impossible for reporters or aid workers to get to the battlegrounds and killing fields to find solid evidence outside of the testimonies of those who venture into government-controlled towns in a quest for assistance.

It is thought that many victims of the violence are hiding out in the bush that surrounds this muddy outpost, just a couple of hours walk away – close enough for the women and children to seek help, but far enough away from the South Sudanese army to feel “safe”.

With Gumuruk’s government-appointed administrator refusing to let civilians search the surrounding area for survivors, the voices of those desperate enough to reach the town are the only ones that, for now at least, can be heard.

The Murle women who had ventured into town recounted tales of being forced from their homes amid terrible inter-tribe violence.

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Gumuruk town is little more than a muddy street with a shabby market, but women of the Murle tribe have taken refuge here. The South Sudanese army, which is alleged to have backed the Lou Nuer tribe in its campaign against the Murle, has a garrison in the town.

Murle children play in Gumuruk market. The men of the tribe are too afraid to come to a town controlled by the military - and Murle leader David Yau Yau has said that any tribesmen living in government-controlled areas are "enemy collaborators".

Luchia says she escaped an attack by Lou Nuer tribespeople with her children - but 14 of her family members were killed, and her husband is still missing. Medecins Sans Frontieres has estimated that 100,000 people have been displaced by fighting between the tribes in this remote part of the country.

With the town(***)s school occupied by the army of South Sudan, Murle boys study maths in a makeshift classroom - writing in the sand.

Facial scarring is a traditional decoration of the Murle. Women from the tribe told Al Jazeera of horrifying violence: the slaughter of a family(***)s children, and the destruction of isolated villages - but it is almost impossible to get concrete evidence to support the claims.

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A contingent of UN peacekeepers from India is camped on the outskirts of Gumuruk, and patrol the grasslands around the town(***)s periphery. It is thought that some of the Murle survivors had settled a few hours walk from the town - close enough for the women to seek help, but far enough from the military.

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