Dozens Of Civilians Killed In Villages Near Renk: Commissioner

This article was last updated on May 27, 2022

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Over 25 civilians have been reported killed in the areas of Daba, Chambor and Majak, all villages inhabited by Dinka Abiliang of Renk County.

Speaking on phone from Renk the Commissioner, Hon. Lual Deng Chol, said: “The rebel fighters knew very well that these are villages which have no police or any military garrison and that they went there intentionally to kill them.”

The commissioner said that his people were targeted based on their ethnicity. “This country cannot be built if we cannot accept the free existence of our fellow brothers and sisters who are members of other ethnic communities.”

He said any rebel movement who wants to take over the country’s leadership should respect citizens’ life but fight the government army.

“Many people have died in this war. And we know that they die for no cause. We should ask ourselves; who we want to rule if we kill all citizens. Do we want to rule our own tribesmen when we have killed all the rest? Would that be justifiable? Is that the freedom rebels claim to be fighting for?” Lual questioned.

Luals said that some families have all died without any single family member left alive as the attackers besieged the villages on Saturday and slaughtered the innocent people without mercy on them.

He said the Speaker for Renk Legislative Council was killed and that the former Manager for Ivory Bank Renk Brach was also killed.

“We lost our Speaker, Hon. Wieu Ayii Kak and Ex-Manager for Ivory Bank, Mr. Ayuel Al-Wad Kuot. Their children were also killed and everybody who was found in the village was killed. That amount to genocide because some families have got extinct. The rebels should have not done that,” Lual said.

The commissioner said that by Sunday, he and others managed to visit the affected villages and mass burial of the bodies was carried out. 

Mourners in Juba have condemned the killings of their fellow brothers and sisters and urged the international community to condemn the rebel movement, which has wanted to kill innocent individuals.

“This is a very bad day for all people of Renk County that their fellow brothers are being killed cold blooded when they are not soldiers. If our people were killed in the front line we should not have complained, but now it pains us so much,” said Goc Yel, a closed relative to the deceased speaker.

“We have also heard that they have killed all those they found in the villages and nobody has remained alive. It is very sad news. Imagine that parents die together with their children and no single person remains alive, we condemn it,” Yel said.

The incident occurred in a distance of 35 km, south of Renk town. Sources have also added that rebels have taken with them nearly ten women to their hideouts. 

Clashes between rebel fighters and government army have been on since last Thursday with rebel fighters capturing Gangbaar, Dukduk and Jerbaga north of Renk town. Villages around agricultural fields are reported destroyed and burned.

Clashes have also been on-going west of the White Nile as rebel fighters in Wadakona town try to cross the river from the west to capture Renk while last Friday SPLA said they have repulsed another rebel attack on Doleib Hills, an area south of Malakal town.