SLIDESHOW: A town destroyed - Leer, South Sudan
Watch the Video link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=065uHlPpj7g
JUBA, 2 July 2014 (IRIN) - Since fighting broke out in mid-December between
rival army factions in South Sudan, plunging the new country into widespread
conflict pitting communities against one another, thousands, perhaps as many
as 30,000 people, have died; 1.5 million have been forced from their homes
and around four million require humanitarian assistance, with
<
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=100236> food insecuritythe
main concern.
One of the most badly affected towns has been Leer, in oil-rich Unity State,
the birthplace of former vice-president Riek Marchar, now the head of the
armed opposition.
The town has suffered extensive destruction and the population is left with
no means for survival. Here, food shortages are worse than in many other
places in South Sudan, according to international NGOs.
This <
http://youtu.be/065uHlPpj7g> slideshow illustrates the horrors
visited upon Leer. It is narrated by a local politician, who asked not to be
identified.
"This is an ethnic conflict," he said.
"If it's political, let them [the combatants] target political elders, not
the entire community. We don't see this as politics, because in politics you
don't kill, you talk, convince people," he added.
"Personally, I feel very sad because I fought for this country [against
Khartoum] and we don't want our people to return to war again. I don't want
to take my child to join the army when he is 14 years old."
Received on Wed Jul 02 2014 - 16:57:14 EDT