AU condemns 'atrocious' south Sudan attacks
AFP
ADDIS ABABA - The African Union on Tuesday voiced grave concern over the "atrocious" attacks which left more than 100 people dead over the weekend in south Sudan's troubled Jonglei state.
"The chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, has learnt with great concern news on the atrocious attacks that took place in the Duk County of Jonglei State," a statement said.
David Gressly, regional coordinator in Southern Sudan for the UN mission in Sudan, in charge of monitoring the 2005 CPA peace deal between the north and south, had also voiced alarm over the raid.
Tribesmen from the Lou Nuer ethnic group raided the Dinka Hol village of Duk Padiet in Jonglei state on Sunday morning, forcing a company of Sudan People's Liberation Army soldiers based there to flee.
More than 2,000 people have died and 250,000 been displaced in inter-tribal violence across the south since January, according to the United Nations, with the rate of violent deaths now exceeding that of war-torn Darfur in west Sudan.
North-south tensions remain high, with Sudan still divided by the religious, ethnic and ideological differences that fuelled a 22-year civil war which ended with the 2005 peace deal.
Under that deal, the south has a six-year transitional period of regional autonomy and takes part in a unity government until a 2011 referendum on self-determination.
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