Hundreds wounded, villages looted in inter-communal fighting in Jonglei State

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Hundreds of people have been wounded, families forced to flee their homes and villages looted due to inter-communal clashes that erupted mid-February in Jonglei State.
 
In a statement to CRN, the International Committee of the Red Cross or ICRC said it has evacuated dozens of injured people for surgical care.
 
It called on those engaged in the clashes to respect human life and principles of humanity.
 
ICRC stated that it has treated nearly 70 people from gunshot wounds over the past two weeks, after fighting broke out in several parts of Jonglei State.
 
‘It is the first time we are forced to mobilize all three surgical units we run in the country for one series of related incidents,’ said Katja Lorenz, ICRC’s deputy head of delegation in South Sudan.
 
He added that ‘we have received hundreds of requests for medical evacuations and we are struggling to meet the needs’.
 
‘In Akobo, Ganyliel and Juba, ICRC surgical teams have treated dozens of patients with gunshot injuries from different communities involved in the fighting. We were able to evacuate the injured only when we had the guarantees from all communities that our team and aircraft would not be targeted,. We can’t land and transport the wounded if people are shooting in the area.’ explained Lorenz.
 
ICRC regretted that the clashes came at a time when new unity government has recently been formed. 
 
It stressed that violence between communities, driven by competition over resources and fuelled by easy access to guns, continues.
 
Other parts of the country are also affected by high levels of violence, said ICRC.
 
Between November 2019 and February 2020, clashes among different communities close to Rumbek in Lakes State killed more than 250 people and injured over 300.