Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 21:08:36 +0200
By Jason Patinkin
NYAL, 21 October 2015 (IRIN) - Leer county Unity State has been one of the regions in South Sudan hardest hit since conflict in South Sudan broke out again in December 2013. It is the birthplace of rebel leader Riek Machar, a former vice president, and home of the Dok clan of the Nuer ethnic group.
In early 2014, government troops and their allies, notably Justice Equality Movement rebels from Darfur in Sudan, overran the area. Since May of this year, Leer has been the target of a large government offensive against Machar's insurgents. In that offensive government troops relied on assistance from loyalist Nuer militia, particularly members of the Bul clan from Mayom County and the Jaggey clan from Koch County.
Fighting in Leer has continued after Machar and President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, separately signed a peace deal in August.
All parties to this war have committed extensive abuses against civilians. Recent reports by the UN and Human Rights Watch detailed killings and rapes committed by government forces this year.
Many Leer civilians have fled to small swamp islands known as “tuochs” to escape the violence. Some 20,000 have left the county altogether and arrived in a town called Nyal to the south which has been peaceful, allowing relief workers deliver aid. Below are stories of survivors in Nyal.