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Battle for Melut, humanitarian sanctuary in South Sudan

With soldiers roaming deserted streets, displaced population shelters at nearby UN base in the aftermath of fighting.

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Melut Town in South Sudan's conflicted Upper Nile state was destroyed in mid-May during a battle between government and rebel forces. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
By Ashley Hamer
Published On 16 Jun 2015

Melut, South Sudan – The town of Melut, in South Sudan’s troubled Upper Nile state, has been destroyed, with heavily armed soldiers roaming the littered streets.

A three-day battle took place here from May 18 between government forces (SPLA) and rebels aligned with a freshly defected army general, Johnson Olony.

The population of the town and surrounding area – over 49,000 people – fled into the bush or escaped north. They knew the violence was coming as Olony advanced from the state capital Malakal towards the oil-producing hub of Paloich.

Melut lay in the middle, on the banks of the River Nile.

Melut was previously a sanctuary hosting displaced communities from across Upper Nile and its borderlands with Sudan. Many humanitarian agencies operated out of the town, implementing diverse health, nutrition, education and agricultural projects for the thousands of displaced people sheltering there.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has a base on the outskirts of the town.

When the battle came, the humanitarian corps retreated to the UNMISS base and endured several days of heavy shelling around the base before evacuating the town along with the UN civilian staff.

They left a battalion of 125 Indian peacekeepers to guard the base and to protect around 1,600 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who had sought shelter in an adjoining UN-protected camp.

The base was caught in the crossfire, with mortar rounds, bullets and shrapnel penetrating the perimeter. Eight IDPs were killed inside the camp over the course of the battle. IDPs said their only shelter was a shallow ditch where they lay for many hours.

While humanitarian workers are now beginning to return to Melut to recover what remains of their projects, an UNMISS spokesperson said the UN will not return their civilian staff until the security situation improves.

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A defected general, who is now a rebel commander attacked the town after overrunning the state capital and announcing he was advancing towards one of the country's last producing oilfields in Upper Nile. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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The population of Melut, over 49,000 people, knew the advance was coming and fled. Rebels and government soldiers torched and looted homes and shops. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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With the civilian population gone, SPLA soldiers control Melut and roam the trashed streets unhindered. They are heavily armed, hostile and often appear drunk. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Soldiers and armed rebels laid siege to Melut, destroying infrastructure including hospitals and aid organisation compounds. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Bullets and spent shell cases are found inside the compounds of humanitarian agencies - evidence that soldiers or armed rebels occupied and fought from these aid compounds. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Civilians who have been sheltering inside the UN-protected base since the battle for Melut are leaving for Paloich, citing continued insecurity and unbearable living conditions inside the base. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Civilians stream out of Melut, their belonging piled on tractors, heading for the relative safety of government stronghold Paloich, where they hope to catch a free cargo flight out of Upper Nile state altogether. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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An unexploded shell sits beside a path outside Melut, marked by a stone and red flag. Unexploded ordnance litter Melut and the surrounding area following the battle in mid-May. Aid organisations are conducting mine clearance operations but much remains to be done. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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About 1,500 civilians sought shelter in the UNMISS base in Melut while the battle raged. The conditions are cramped and unsafe. Shells landed inside the camp and bullets penetrated the perimeter during the battle. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Shells fell inside the UNMISS base during the battle. One landed on a hut where a woman, child and man were hiding. According to camp residents, eight civilians in total were killed by munitions falling inside the base. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Displaced civilians sheltering in the UNMISS camp had little protection from munitions falling from outside. According to camp residents, hundreds of people hid themselves in this ditch for up to three days while the battle raged on. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Several hangars used to store food aid and humanitarian supplies were destroyed during the battle. Stocks were plundered in the aftermath. SPLA soldiers in Melut claimed rebels had torched and looted the supplies, however government forces have also been accused of plundering humanitarian supplies. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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The rebels attacked Melut from the Nile, arriving on barges. SPLA said they sank several enemy barges, inflicting heavy casualties. One gutted barge remains on the bank in Melut half-submerged. Unspent artillery rounds litter the ground nearby. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]
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Unspent, heavy ammunition lie in the middle of the remains of Melut, three weeks after the battle between government SPLA forces and the rebel opposition forces. [Ashley Hamer/Al Jazeera]