Of course it's not nice friends that I'm returning to my blog with bad news! But what can you do if the situation and the situation require it. Of course promplanet could not get past the conflict in Sudan. Many people, and mostly children, are now on the verge of dying from the consequences of this barbarism of the two divided sides.I would like to offer you, dear visitors, to make a donation for the Christians of southern and northern Sudan. This can be done by following this link (carefully read the instructions).
Try not to pass by small children who are dying from political persecution, just because they are of a different faith. But more on that later... Let's all the same let's figure it out what is Sudan, where is it located and where did this conflict come from.
Sudan and its halves. Republic of Sudan (Jumhuriyat as-Sudan)) - state in the Northeast Africa. Borders with Egypt in the north, Libya - in North-west, Chadom - in the west, - in the South-West, South Sudan - in the south and Eritrea and Ethiopia - in the southeast. In the northeast it is washed by the waters red sea . Capital city Khartoum. South Sudan(English) South Sudan), official nameRepublic of South Sudan(English) Republic of South Sudan) is the state in Africa with Juba as its capital . It is planned to transfer the capital from Juba to the city Ramsel. It borders Ethiopia to the east, Kenya, Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo on South , Central African Republic in the west and Sudan in the north. Area - 619,745 km² . Sovereign status of South Sudan comes into force July 9, 2011 , after signing a declaration proclaiming it independent state . Member of the UN since July 14, 2011. Has no access to the sea. Let's look at the map:
And so, the population of the country of Sudan. As of July 2010, Sudan's population was estimated at 30.89 million (not including South Sudan). Annual growth is at the level of 2.15%.total fertility rate- about 4.4 births per woman. infant mortality- 78 per 1000. The average life expectancy is 51.6 years for men, 53.5 years for women. Urban population- 43%. The literacy rate is 71% for males and 50% for females (2003 estimate). The majority of the population belongs to negroid race ( Nilots, Nubians) - 52%. Arabs make up 70% of the population, Beja (Kushites ) - 6%, other 3%. The most common languages are Arabic, Nilotic languages, Nubian, Beja. official languages are Arabic and English. The majority of the population of Northern Sudan professes Sunni Islam (95%), Christianity - 1%, aboriginal cults - 4%.Population of South Sudan is, according to various sources, from 7.5up to 13 million people . According to the results of the Sudanese census 2008 the population of the South was 8,260,490, however, the South Sudanese authorities do not accept these results, since the central bureau of statistics in Khartoum refused to provide them with initial data for the region for their own processing and evaluation. The majority of the people of South Sudan belong to negroid race and confesses either Christianity or traditional African animistic religions . The main population group is made up ofNilotic peoples, the most numerous of which are Dinka, Nuer, Azande, Bari and Shilluk.
Conflict . Methnic conflict in Sudan , resulting in an armed confrontation between the central government, informalabout governmentArab armed groups Janjaweed "and insurgent groups of the local Negroid population.Both sides in the conflict accused each other of serious human rights violations, including massacres, looting and rape. civilians. Nevertheless, the balance soon tipped in favor of the better armed Janjaweed units. To spring 2004 several thousand people - mostly blacks - were killed and about a million forced to flee their homes, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis. The crisis took on an international dimension as more than 100,000 refugees, pursued by the Janjaweed, poured into neighboring Chad, leading to clashes between the Janjaweed and Chadian border guards.The armed conflict in Darfur caused a massive flow of refugees.According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in December 2003 alone, up to 30 thousand people moved to neighboring Chad, and by mid-February 2004 neighboring country fled from 110 to 135 thousand people.
George Clooney and his father Nick were arrested during a demonstration outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington.The participants of the action three times ignored the demands of the policemen not to cross the fence of the territory of the diplomatic mission. Subsequently, law enforcement officers handcuffed the perpetrators and took them to the bus.
Photo selection:
Other donations can be made (follow the instructions). We also ask you to pay attention to our poster from the "UN World Food Program" on the right sidebar of the site. We wish you all the very best :)
Author of the idea Nina Voznaya
Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005)
Part 1. Beginning
1.1. Causes and causes of war
Under the terms of the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, which ended the 1st Civil War in Sudan, autonomy was created in the south of the country. Many former rebels from the Anya-nya organization have taken high positions in the military and civil administration of this autonomous region. However, this could not completely eliminate the differences between the Arab-Muslim north and the Negro-Christian south.
The main claim of the southern elite to the Khartoum authorities was the so-called "marginalization" - extremely popular in African countries a term denoting the unfair distribution of power and income in relation to the population (elite) of a certain region. The scope of this concept is vague: it also includes the situation when the resources of the region are really predatory plundered by the central government; and a small deduction of the region's income for national needs; and even insufficient (in the opinion of the local elite) injection of funds into the region at the expense of income from other provinces of the country. The presence of an arbitrarily small number of Arab officials in the power structures of the autonomy of South Sudan could also serve as a basis for accusations of marginalization, and at the same time with dissatisfaction with the insufficient representation of southerners in the central government. Thus, the very perception of “marginalization” is often subjective.
Moreover, in the case of South Sudan in the early 1980s, we are faced with a very interesting case. The discovery of oil fields here and preparations for their development aroused strong fears among southerners that they would be deprived in the future. That is, at the moment there has not yet been an active exploitation of the region's resources in the interests of the central government - but the southerners were already afraid that this would happen. And, apparently, the Khartoum government was really not going to be satisfied with a small share ...
The second most important reason for the concern of the southerners (mainly Christians or animists) was the policy of the North Sudanese Arabs to build an Islamic state. Although the Nimeiri government has stated that the introduction of the constitution and everyday life countries of the Islamic State would not affect the rights of the people of South Sudan, but not everyone believed in this (and I will not call it excessive reinsurance).
Having indicated the main causes of the war, it is worth saying a few words about the immediate causes. Firstly, the Khartoum government actively implemented the Jonglei Canal project. The fact is that the flow of watery equatorial Africa flowing through the White Nile and its tributaries into the swampy area in the center of South Sudan (“sudd”) was mainly spent on crazy evaporation due to the slow flow of the river, often completely blocked by floating islands of vegetation. Of the more than 20 cubic kilometers of incoming flow, 6-7 were sent on their way to Khartoum and Egypt. Therefore, a project arose to transfer the waters of the White Nile past the ship along the shortest way, which promised to release about 5 cubic kilometers of fresh water per year - a huge figure, given that under the agreement on the distribution of already available water resources densely populated Egypt could claim 55 cubic kilometers, and Sudan - 20. However this project caused great concern among the local Sudda tribes, who feared a serious change in their habitat and the destruction of their traditional economic structure. In the process of writing this article, already 29 years after the beginning of the events described, I still did not meet the unequivocal conclusion of environmentalists about the possible impact of the Jonglei Canal on the ecosystem and economy of southerners, so their concern in 1983 was all the more justified.
The second, and most immediate, reason for the uprising was the decision of the central government to transfer several parts of the Sudanese army from the south to the north of the country. Within the framework of the declared unity of Sudan, this step did not look strange and/or unfair. However, it should be borne in mind that parts of the armed forces in the autonomous region were often staffed by former rebels. Many of them already showed dissatisfaction with the Addis Ababa agreement of 1972, which preserved the unity of such a diverse country and, albeit reduced, but still the influence of the Arabs in the south. This already led in 1975 to a new uprising and the creation of Anya-nya-2, however, an insufficiently large movement, the actions of which did not deserve the name "2nd Sudanese Civil War". However, the planned transfer of a significant part of the units of the southerners to the north (where they, being in a foreign region, certainly could not pose a threat to the Arab government in exploiting the resources of the south), planned by the Khartoum government, created an ideal pretext for an uprising.
Thus, assessing in aggregate both the causes and causes of the 2nd Civil War, it is impossible to conclude that the Arabs of the north of the country are completely guilty of this. Just as the fears and claims of the southerners cannot be called unfounded. However, I think that the actions of the Khartoum government after the start of the war (largely described by the terms "medieval" and "genocide") fully justify the leaders of the southerners who initiated this bloody struggle. And, regardless of the initial acts and intentions of the parties, there is no doubt that an attempt to unite in one state of Sudan so different in ethnicity and the religion of the peoples was originally criminal.
1.2. The beginning of the uprising
Now it is finally time to say at least a few words about the uprising itself, which led to the Civil War. It began in the early morning of May 16, 1983 in the camp of the 105th Battalion of the Sudanese Armed Forces (hereinafter SAF) a few kilometers from the city of Bor. The rebellion was initiated and led by the battalion commander, Major Kerubino Kvanyin Bol, who convinced his subordinates to disobey the order to transfer to the north of the country. The rebels opened fire on the few Arab soldiers present in the camp, temporarily taking control of the surroundings of Bor. On the same day, having received news of the Bor rebellion, a few tens of kilometers to the northeast, the 104th SAF battalion rebelled in the Ayoda area, which also guarded the Jonglei Canal route. In the latter case, Major William Nuyon Bani commanded the rebels.
The Sudanese government dispatched substantial forces against the rebels, forcing them to flee to eastbound to Ethiopia, which has been supporting the South Sudanese rebels from Anya-nya-2 for more than a year. However, the new uprising did not just add a certain amount of dissatisfied to the refugees in the Ethiopian camps. First, organized and trained fighters arrived there with their commanders. Secondly, among the soldiers sent to suppress the Bor rebellion was Colonel John Garang de Mabior, who came from the Nilotic Dinka tribe. Not being the initiator of the uprising, the latter nevertheless joined him, seizing the moment for desertion from the SAF units that arrived in the Bora region.
It is with the activities of John Garang that the main struggle of the South Sudanese during the 2nd Civil War is inextricably linked - someone joined it earlier, someone later; someone showed their heroism on the battlefield more, someone less - but without John Garang this would hardly have led to the result that we see today. Of course, I am getting ahead of myself in the story of the 2nd Civil War in Sudan, but not by chance. John Garang did not personally participate in the assaults on cities. John Garang's forces were losing. John Garang made mistakes. John Garang's forces were doing something inappropriate. John Garang led the Southerners to victory.
1.3. Creation of SPLA
Now let's get back to the events of 1983. The Bor rebellion caused an active influx of dissatisfied with the Khartoum government into Ethiopia. At that moment, rebel sentiment literally roamed the air of South Sudan, so that when the news of the rebellion began, the flight of both autonomy politicians and ordinary residents began. The former, of course, immediately tried to formalize their participation in the uprising by launching violent activities in the refugee camps. Even before the arrival of the initiators of the rebellion, who spent some time fighting with government forces, a group of politicians announced the creation of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). I’ll note right away that I still prefer to use English abbreviations in the story (instead of SPLA - SPLA), since all the information for writing the article was extracted from English-language sources, and it is for them that those interested in this issue can carry out an independent search.
At the meeting of politicians that led to the creation of the SPLA, the question of creating a movement seeking the liberation of only South Sudan (SSPLA) was initially discussed. However, the influence of the colonel of the Ethiopian armed forces, who was present at the conference, turned out to be decisive, conveying wishes that could not be refused - after all, it happened in Ethiopia:
- the movement must be of a socialist nature (the Ethiopian regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam himself at that time dabbled in Marxist experiments with collective farms, food requisitions and the “red terror”);
- the movement should aim to "liberate" all of Sudan, not just the south.
It is possible that these requirements were agreed with the Soviet Union, which actively supported the Ethiopian regime.
Also at the aforementioned conference, it was determined who would lead the new movement. The head of the political branch (SPLM) was a veteran of South Sudanese politics Akuot Atem. The commander of the military branch (SPLA) was Guy Tut, who distinguished field commander Anya-nya in the 1st Civil War, lieutenant colonel of the SAF (after the Addis Ababa agreement of 1972), who left military service in 1974 and has since held a number of prominent positions in the civil administration of the autonomous region. For active duty soldiers who deserted from the SAF, the politicians awarded the post of Chief of the General Staff of the SPLA, given to John Garang, who held the highest rank of colonel among them.
Upon the arrival of the military who took part in the rebellion in Ethiopia, disagreements arose between them and the politicians who created the SPLA. Already at the first meeting, John Garang put forward claims against Akuot Atem, citing his venerable age. Yes, and Guy Tut, the once illustrious commander, as an army commander did not arouse enthusiasm among the garangists, because he was inferior to the latter in military rank and for the last 9 years he has been engaged in political activity. John Garang went to Addis Ababa and secured an appointment with Mengistu Haile Mariam. Based on the results of a personal meeting, Mengistu decided to support him, impressed by his active character and readiness to fully support the socialist character of the movement. From Addis Ababa, the Itang camp (where refugees were concentrated after the Bor rebellion) received an order to arrest Akuot Atem and Guy Tut, but the latter, warned by one of the Ethiopian officers, fled to the Bukteng camp in Sudan.
John Garang himself returned, along with a highly empowered Ethiopian general. Although Itang was at this point entirely in the hands of Garang's supporters (the military who took part in the Bor rebellion), however, a question arose regarding the Bilpam camp, where the Anya-nya-2 fighters under the command of Gordon Kong Chuol had been based for 8 years. The Ethiopians wanted to create a united socialist insurgency in Sudan, so the latter was given a week to come to Itang to decide on his place in the SPLA. Gordon Kong refused, either fearing arrest (there had already been precedents), or disagreeing with the exchange of the post of leader of Anya-nya-2 for a not so high place in the SPLA hierarchy. After a week, the Ethiopian general appointed Colonel John Garang as the leader of the SPLA / SPLM, a deputy in the person of Major Kerubino Kwanyin, approved Major William Nuyon as the Chief of the General Staff and Captain Salwa Kiir as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff (by the way, the current President of South Sudan). At the same time, the Ethiopian granted Garang the right to appoint other members of the command and, more importantly, authorized military action against the forces of Anya-nya-2. So at the end of July 1983, the SPLA attacked and after a short fight captured Bilpam, driving Gordon Kong's forces into the already mentioned Bukteng camp. On this, the design of the new insurgent movement (SPLA) can be considered completed.
As for the dissidents from the SPLA and the members of Anya-nya-2 ousted to Bukteng, their paths soon parted. Gordon Kong and his supporters, not seeing any further opportunity to rely on any bases outside of Sudan, went over to the side of the Khartoum government, against which Anya-nya-2 began 8 years before the appearance of the SPLA. Guy Tut was killed in early 1984 by his deputy, who soon also died in another civil strife. Akuot Atem, a native of the Dinka tribe, fell shortly after the death of Guy Tut at the hands of the Nuer, who received an impulse to hate the Dinka after the failure of their leaders Gordon Kong and Guy Tut.
1.4. Population of South Sudan
Here is the time to pay attention to the ethnic composition of the rebels and the ethnic map of South Sudan as a whole. The latter is a motley conglomeration of peoples and tribes, which could not but affect the course of the events described.
The largest people in this region are Dinka, very warlike people, divided, as it is supposed here, into several tribes, however, under certain conditions, they are quite capable of gathering under the banner of a single leader. The second largest Nuer - the representatives of this tribe are unusually warlike, perhaps even more than the Dinka, but clearly inferior to the latter in the ability to act under a single command. The patchwork of the Dinka and Nuer lands is most north of South Sudan, where the Shilluks, related to the two previous tribes, also live, as well as the less related Bertas (on the northeastern border of South Sudan and Ethiopia). The southern part of the region (the so-called Equatoria region) is filled with many tribes, the most significant of which, when listed from east to west, are the Didinga, Topoza, Acholi (kindred in Uganda, known for creating one of the most terrible formations of the late 20th / early 21st century - Lord's Liberation Army, LRA), Madi, Lotuko and Lokoya, Bari and Mundari, Azande. Marked in the 2nd Civil War and Murle, and Anuaki (in the east near the border with Ethiopia), and Fertit Corporation (various small tribes in the west of the region in the strip from Wau to Ragi).
It was the Dinka and the Nuer who initially formed the backbone of the rebels. It was the rivalry between their leaders that led to the most difficult consequences for the SPLA during the war. As part of a series of articles entitled "The 2nd Sudanese Civil War", the author will, as far as possible, avoid talking about events related to the Nuer, because the history of the participation of representatives of this tribe in this war is so interesting that it is planned to devote a separate article to it - and the quality reviews of other events of the 2nd Civil should not suffer. This is quite possible, since the outcome of the confrontation was decided mainly in the course of hostilities against the Khartoum Dinka government and allied detachments organized by the SPLA leadership from representatives of the most diverse tribes of South Sudan.
However, it is worth pointing out ethnicity previously mentioned heroes of our story:
- the initiator of the Bor rebellion, initially the deputy commander of the SPLA, Kerubino Kwanyin Bol - Dinka;
- the initiator of the uprising in Ayod, originally the chief of the General Staff, William Nuyon Bani - Nuer;
- holder of the highest military rank at the time of the rebellion and then the unchanging leader of the SPLA (and SPLM), John Garang - Dinka;
- the very first leader of the SPLM, Akuot Atem, is a Dinka;
- the very first head of the SPLA, Guy Tut is a Nuer.
Thus, the 1983 summer struggle in the Ethiopian refugee camps for the leadership of the SPLA was not between the Dinka and the Nuer, but between the military and politicians. Among the winning party were representatives of both tribes (Garang / Kerubino and Nuyon), among the losers also (Atem and Tut).
The situation with respect to the rivalry between the “new” rebels and Anya-nya-2 turned out to be somewhat more complicated: the leader of this organization Gordon Kong, who rejected the union with the SPLA, belonged to the Nuer tribe, but the departments that joined the new movement were headed by Dinka John Koang and Murle Ngachigak Ngachiluk. Thus, only the Nuer remained among the detachments of Gordon Kong, and Anya-Nya-2, which entered into an alliance with the Khartoum government, was already an exclusively tribal organization. This was not a very good sign for the SPLA - "picking up" an insurgent structure for itself, playing on social or personal motives (the duration of which is calculated for a maximum of years), is undoubtedly easier than "poaching" ethnic opponents, whose reasons for discontent lie in the centuries-old disputes of peoples.
Before turning to the description of the hostilities, I will say a few more words about the "cartographic support" of the narrative. I believe that a full understanding of the course of any conflict without studying its development in space is impossible. Therefore, only in rare cases the name mentioned in the text cannot be found on the maps accompanying the article, and this will be specially marked with the sign "(n / c)". In particular, it will be possible to track the ups and downs of hostilities outlined in this article using fragments of a map of Sudan prepared by the Cartography Production Mapping Association of the Main Directorate of Geodesy and Cartography under the Council of Ministers of the USSR in 1980.
I will note only one feature - after the publication of this map in Sudan, the fragmentation of large provinces was completed, as a result of which Bahr el-Ghazal was divided into Western Bahr el-Ghazal, Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, Warrap and Lake Province; Jonglei and Unity were isolated from the Upper Nile; and the Equatorial province was divided into Western, Central and Eastern Equatoria.
1.5. Fighting in 1983-1984
And now, finally, to the struggle of the rebels with the government, and not just among themselves. On November 7, 1983, the SPLA captured the village of Malwal (n / a) a few dozen kilometers south of the city of Malukal. The settlement was thatched huts with less than a thousand inhabitants, so its capture (accompanied by a maximum of "battles" with the local police) served only as an application for the seriousness of the new movement. Of course, insignificant events should be excluded from the narrative, but nevertheless I decided to mark Malval as the first locality, caught in the millstones of the 2nd Sudanese Civil War. In addition, the SPLA attacked it almost simultaneously with the city of Nasir, in which the rebels captured everything except the base of the SAF garrison. Over the next few days, the military units of the Khartoum government that advanced from neighboring regions fought with the rebels, and after a week they were able to oust the enemy from Nasir, and then from Malwal.
The November 1983 sortie of the SPLA into Sudan was only a test of strength, and the rebel leadership was preparing for a battle on the supply routes that was completely natural in those conditions, which was not at all exclusively a “battle on the roads”. In South Sudan, poor in road infrastructure, the main routes of communication ran along the rivers - primarily the Nile (giving direct access to the capital of the southern region of Juba), as well as along the Sobat (a tributary of the Nile leading to Nasir), and the Bahr el-Ghazal system (giving access from the Nile to a vast territory to the west, including the oil-bearing province of Unity). Therefore, initially, the Nile steamships became the main objects of attacks by the rebels.
In February 1984, a ship towing several barges was attacked. Government sources claimed that only 14 passengers died, while according to other sources - more than three hundred. It should be clarified that the passengers of such "convoys" were equally both civilian and military (the Sudanese army initially used conventional civilian vehicles). The second confirmed by both sides rebel attack on a riverboat was only in December of this year, but it should be borne in mind that this conflict is characterized by particularly conflicting reports from the parties, so that confirmation by the government of the fact of the incident often occurred only when an incident of a significant scale.
In connection with the problems on the river routes, transport aviation acquired special importance for the government. But she also had to learn to work in the difficult conditions of the conflict - at the end of June, the Sudanese confirmed the loss of one transport worker and one combat F-5. Moreover, the government side suspected that the aircraft were hit with the help of the Strela MANPADS received by the PLA from Ethiopia.
However, not only on the water and in the air there was a “battle on the roads”. The supply of government forces in the western part of South Sudan was largely carried out by rail, which went from the north of the country to the capital of the state of Western Bahr el Ghazal, Wau. In March 1984, the SPLA blew up the railway bridge over the Lol River here, killing the garrison guarding it.
Finally, there were attacks on convoys moving overland. In August, a government detachment was ambushed and suffered heavy losses, heading from Juba to Bor. And in early October, a column between Duk and Ayod, on the Jonglei Canal, was defeated. By the way, the construction of the latter was stopped back in February - then the rebels attacked the previously mentioned Ayod and a number of other points, so the general contractor of this hydraulic facility French company refused further work in connection with the death of several employees. Similarly, a number oil companies have suspended their work on fields that are almost ready for development in the state of Unity.
1.6. Fighting in 1985
At the beginning of 1985, a new convoy left Juba for rebel-blocked Bor, numbering several thousand military personnel with large quantity technology. At 70 kilometers from his target, he was subjected to a powerful attack by the PLA and suffered heavy losses. However, the size of the convoy affected the outcome of the battle - it was not possible to completely destroy it. After some time, having put themselves in order, the column resumed movement. On the way, she was ambushed several more times, suffered losses and stopped for a long time. However, even after three months, the government detachment still reached Bor. It should be noted that such “long-term” convoys have become very characteristic of the Sudanese war. Due to the complete superiority of the army in heavy weapons it was not easy to destroy them, but government forces also had to move very carefully, given the risk of being ambushed at any moment on terrain well known to the enemy.
While the fight was going on on the roads, and the fighters of the former 104th and 105th battalions of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), who initiated the uprising, were disturbing the army garrisons in Pochalle and Akobo adjacent to Ethiopia, the leadership of the SPL was preparing new units that could adequately perform in the arena of struggle with SAF. At the same time, the title was considered as important - the first two SPLA battalions bore the name "Rhinos" and "Crocodiles". The latter in 1984 undertook an operation to capture the Boma mountain plateau south of Pochalla, convenient for creating a base area already on Sudanese territory. After initial success, the rebels were forced to retreat, having tasted the effect of the "luck on the side of the big battalions" principle.
Meanwhile, new forces were being prepared in the Ethiopian camps - a "division" with sonorous name"Locust", numbering up to 12 thousand fighters. And, of course, her new battalions bore no less proud names than the previous ones - "Scorpions", "Iron", "Lightning". At the very beginning of 1985 mountainous area Boma was captured again, this time by the Scorpion Battalion under the command of Ngachigak Ngachiluk. And, despite the further vicissitudes of a long civil war, Boma was never recaptured by government forces, becoming a reliable base for operations of the rebels.
From Boma, the SPLA forces moved west, defeated government troops north of the provincial center of East Equatorial Torit, and began to occupy its environs. Their activities in this region were facilitated by the assistance of the Lotuko people (and related to the latter Lokoi living in the area of Liria and Ngangala), whose representative and prominent political figure South Sudan Joseph Odunho joined the leadership of the SPLM.
Moving southwest, the forward detachments of the SPLA reached the village of Ovni-ki-Bul (n / a) 20 kilometers from Magvi. This was already the territory of the Madi people, who did not show much enthusiasm to join the struggle against the northern Arabs. Therefore, it is not surprising that the SAF detachment burned the village, and the SAF units, which arrived soon, with the support of the local police, defeated and drove the enemy back.
The second direction of advance from the Lotuk area for the SPLA was western, where they captured the town of Mongalla located on the banks of the Nile. However, here too certain nuances arose - the rebels entered the area of the Mandari tribe. The latter, for centuries, were the direct neighbors of the Dinka from the bor unit, and therefore "had scores" with the main striking force of the SPL. The old conflicts between Mandari and Dinka erupted more than once in the post-colonial era. In particular, shortly after the outbreak of the uprising in 1983, the Mandaris massacred Dinka merchants in Juba in the course of the struggle for the right to trade in the local market. And the Khartoum authorities, who skillfully used the “divide and rule” policy, did not interfere with this. In turn, in the same 1983, the Dinka expelled their rivals from the town of Tali Post, southwest of Bor. So the Mandari militia was well motivated and enjoyed the full support of government forces. Soon she defeated the rebels near Gur Makur (n / k) near Mongalla, forcing the SPLA to retreat from this settlement.
Here I will note another feature this conflict. In conditions when only the Khartoum government had no shortage of heavy weapons, the presence of even a few tanks on the battlefield could become a decisive factor. Thus, in many battles with the SPL, the government side turned out to be represented mainly by some kind of tribal militia, which could hardly win without being supported by "armor" or "artificers" from the army. And such support, in turn, was extremely likely - just ask.
In September of the same year, detachments of the SPLA Southern Command, led by former SAF Major Arok Ton Arok, attacked another important Mandari city, Terekeka, now on the west bank of the Nile a little north of Mongalla. In the captured Terekek, there were serious excesses against the Mandari. Moreover, the sources note their orientation primarily against the "eastern wing" of the tribe, which may have been revenge for the recent defeat on the other side of the Nile. However, the SPLA detachments were soon forced to leave Terekeka.
Of course, the rebels were active in other areas of southern Sudan. However, for now I will only note the capture on March 3, 1985 of the village of Jack (n / c), east of Nasir near the border with Ethiopia. Although this event did not lead to further serious consequences, at least the SAF lost the entire garrison here, led by the colonel.
It was much more difficult to capture the provincial centers, although the rebels tried. In November 1985, a battalion that had just arrived after training in Ethiopia tried to take Bor. However, for the Dinka from the northern clans who made it up, the Sudda area turned out to be completely unfamiliar and unusual, which played a significant role in the final crushing defeat.
Apparently, it was this defeat that overflowed the “cup of patience” of the SPLA command in relation to the Southern Command. Arok Ton Arok was replaced with a certain Kuol Manyang Juuk. However, the epithet “some” should not be considered too pejoratively - as subsequent events showed, the most famous in the 2nd Civil War was acquired not by the leaders of successful operations, but by schismatics and traitors.
Let's finish this section a couple of episodes from the "fight on the roads" in 1985. The continuing problems with the Nile shipping company were evidenced by the fact that in February 1986 the captain of the ship, a citizen of the FRG, who had been captured by the rebels a few months earlier, was released (which is why this case actually became known). The danger of flights to supply the garrisons was confirmed by the loss of two Buffalo transports - on March 14 at Akobo and on April 4 near Bor. Finally, at the end of the year, the SPLA bombarded the Juba airport several times with guns and mortars, albeit without much result.
Meanwhile, more serious events were approaching ...
Pavel Nechay,
Kartula, 14, is a refugee from Darfur, Sudan's western province. She enters a distribution center to receive her monthly food allowance in Jabal, a camp near Gos Beida in eastern Chad, on June 5, 2008.
People are forced to leave Abey to receive food rations provided by the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS).
Nyakum Bakony Chan, a frail 50-year-old Sudanese woman from the village of Abey, was forced to hide under her bed for two days as fighting between the Sudanese military and the rebel army raged in her village. She managed to escape with her son to the nearby village of Agok. Marauders roamed the village of Abey.
The photo shows a fire in the village of Abey, which burned down on May 23, 2008. Marauders roamed freely in the village after the last week's fighting. In Sudan, a conflict broke out over oil resources and pastures, which lasted several days between the armed forces and the army of the former southern rebels.
The ruins of a burned village in Sudan. 21 Sudanese army soldiers died in fierce fighting with southern forces in a dispute over oil-rich Abey.
People are forced to leave Abey to receive emergency food aid distributed by WFP in Agok, in southern Sudan, provided by the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS).
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). A soldier stands guard in Abey May 16, 2008. Negotiations took place between the southern SPLA and commanders from the northern Sudanese military after two days of fighting between former adversaries in the oil-rich city.
A justice and equality activist accompanies General Martin Luther Agwai (third from left), commander of the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) thermo force, to a meeting with Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the movement. insurgency stated that they entered the Sudanese capital on 10 May 2008 when they clashed with the army on the Nile River further north. To which he received a response from the commander-in-chief of the ruling National Congress Party that the Darfur rebel attack had failed, accusing Chad of being involved in the rebel attack on Khartoum.
Pictured are Justice and Equality Fighters (JEM) seated in the back seat of an armored vehicle after a meeting between JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim and the UN and African Union Special Envoys for Darfur at an undisclosed location in western Sudan in Darfur April 18, 2008.
Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), 18 April 2008 meeting with a field commander during a meeting with the United Nations and the African Union of Special Envoys at an undisclosed location in Sudan's western region of Darfur. Ibrahim is included in the list of 20 rebel leaders in Darfur Sudan.
Ethnic Arab girls share housing with other women in the makeshift village of Taiba, where ethnic Arabs displaced by insecurity and tribal tensions have set up shelters about 40 kilometers (30 miles) north of the eastern Chadian town of Gos Beida, June 9, 2008. The village does not receive support from relief agencies. Reflecting the violence in Darfur, which has been swept in both directions through Chad and Sudan, there are 250,000 Sudanese refugees scattered in numerous camps in eastern Chad and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians.
A young Sudanese refugee stands at the door of a house in Juba, South Sudan on April 16, 2008. Tens of thousands of people have once again been forced to flee their homes in Abey following the outbreak of violence between the army in northern Sudan and former southern rebels over the region's oil-rich administration, in a fiercely contested situation between north and south Sudan.
A boy has fun rolling a pot lid with a stick at a camp for displaced Chadians fleeing fighting around the eastern town of Gos Beida, near the border with Sudan, on June 7, 2008.
Refugees from Sudan's western province of Darfur look at a UN Security Council delegation that visited a camp near Jabal Gos Beida in eastern Chad, June 6, 2008.
Stephen Morgan keeps civilians at bay as Union specialists European Forces Bomb Disposal (ECU) digs a hole to dispose of rocket-propelled grenades found on a roadside off eastern Chad in the town of Gos Beida on June 8, 2008. In the past month alone, they have destroyed about 80 unexploded grenades near Gos Beida.
Arab woman waiting for a consultation in a clinic where a medical charitable help by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) from Holland to Kerfi for thousands of displaced Chadians, 50 km (30 miles) south of Gos Beida east, June 10, 2008.
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir waves a stick in the air as he addresses a crowd during a rally in Khartoum on May 14, 2008, during a demonstration against the attack. Tens of thousands of Sudanese people took to the streets of Khartoum on Wednesday, shouting nationalist slogans condemning the rebel attack on the capital that killed more than 200 people. dressed in military uniform Bashir led the crowd to chant against the rebels and their leader, Khalil Ibrahim.
A woman is recovering at a clinic run by Doctors Without Borders after being attacked and beaten by gunmen at night.
Civil war breaks out in South Sudan. The reasons for Africa are traditional: the unwillingness of the elites to share the proceeds from the plunder of the country and tribal disunity. Good reason not to engage in mortal combat with opposing sides no, so a violent and protracted conflict seems almost inevitable.
The secession of black South Sudan from Arab Sudan and the creation of an exemplary democratic African state there has been one of the favorite projects of the international community. Khartoum was quite rightly criticized for racism, religious intolerance, forced Arabization, lawlessness, authoritarianism, predatory pumping of oil from southern regions countries, corruption and other features of a typical Eastern despotism. It is generally agreed that getting rid of the tyranny of the brutal northern dictator Omar al-Bashir (wanted for war crimes, by the way) would open the way for southerners to a more or less tolerable life. US President Barack Obama went even further, promising "a peaceful and prosperous future for all the South Sudanese people."
I must say that Obama was somewhat wrong in his forecasts. What happened in South Sudan after the declaration of independence in 2011 will not be called peace and prosperity even by the most convinced optimist. Prosperity for the whole nation did not work out from the very beginning. The only competitive South Sudanese commodity on the world market is crude oil. And the only way to deliver it to buyers is an oil pipeline passing through Sudan to the Red Sea. As the authorities in Juba explained, Omar al-Bashir had raised such prices for pumping oil that it became unprofitable to sell it. The Sudanese dictator himself, by the way, did everything possible to strengthen his bad reputation among former fellow citizens: for example, his aircraft periodically bombed the oil fields of southerners. As a result, South Sudan failed to get rich quick selling oil.
Photo: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah / Reuters
Despite the forced removal of the "raw material curse", other sectors of the newborn country's economy did not develop rapidly either. But it is not so much the old ruler who is to blame for this, but the new ones - they spread horrendous corruption in the country. Investment is also hindered by the idiosyncratic understanding of property rights in South Sudan. For example, pastoralists wandering from pasture to pasture in the Nile Valley do not disdain the opportunity to increase their herd at the expense of colleagues they meet on the way. An interesting detail: the weaning of cows and bulls is carried out in ancient, one might say, ways - with the help of bows, arrows, swords and spears.
With the peace you hoped for american president, it got even worse. Numerous rebel groups that fought against the Sudanese troops quickly retrained into gangs leading either a sedentary lifestyle (terrorizing the local population) or nomadic (arranging raids on settled fellow citizens). Against the background of the weakness of the central government and complete lawlessness, the slave trade flourished in remote areas of the country. Army units sent to disperse these gangs, to the displeasure of local residents, often themselves zealously rob fellow citizens.
But lawlessness, corruption and authoritarianism are not the main problems of the youngest country in the world. The greatest danger to South Sudan is the deep-seated mutual hatred between the main ethnic groups- Dinka (about 15 percent of the population) and Nuer (10 percent). It should be noted that the figures, of course, are very approximate, since no one knows exactly what the population of the country is in principle.
The history of relations between Dinka and Nuer is replete with cases of mutual mass murder. Even during the war against Khartoum, in rare moments of rest, representatives of the two nationalities slaughtered each other, as well as all others who came to hand. Actually, many robberies, murders and cattle rustlings in "peacetime" were carried out according to the ethnic principle. The Western press does not really like to mention this, but the Dinka and Nuer have about the same feelings for each other as the Serbs and Croats during Balkan wars in the 1990s. In South Sudan, this means low-profile ethnically motivated violence.
From the country's final slide into civil war South Sudan was saved by three factors: the presence of a common enemy (Sudan), the relatively fair distribution of government posts between representatives of both nationalities, and the fact that even together they barely reach a quarter total population countries. Approximately 75 percent of the population are representatives of other tribes, and in total in South Sudan there are more than 60 different dialects alone.
However, in 2013 the situation began to change rapidly. First, Khartoum and Juba agreed on a cold peace. Of course, there was no friendship between them, and there is no, but they are no longer fighting. Secondly, President Salva Kiir (Dinka) fired Vice President Riek Machar (Nuer) and also purged all governments of representatives of other tribes. This, by the way, among local observers gave rise to the term "dinakratiya". And thirdly, against the background of the expulsion of all non-Dinka from the government, the Nuer began to consolidate around themselves other nationalities, dissatisfied with the dominance of the Dinka. Thus, all the ingredients for starting a civil war were prepared.
And she did not keep herself waiting long. Last week in Juba there was night fight which President Kiir announced failed attempt state coup. In the main conspirators, he predictably recorded Machar and his people, deprived of power by presidential reshuffles in the government. The former vice president managed to escape from the capital, but some of his associates were less fortunate: at least 11 former officials from the Nuer tribe were arrested.
It was even worse for ordinary representatives of this tribe living in the capital. According to eyewitnesses, government forces began to carry out cleansing operations, killing "conspirators" by the hundreds. Thousands of people, fearing for their lives, poured into the refugee camps in the capital.
Meanwhile, in the state of Jongliy (Nuer bastion), similar processes began. Only representatives of the Dinka people have become victims there. Forces loyal to Machar captured main city state - Bor, where ethnic cleansing immediately began. By the way, representatives of the Dinka Nuer people are calculated according to two criteria: pronunciation features (their languages are similar) and high growth. Dinka are considered the tallest people on the planet.
Against the backdrop of the outbreak of the rebellion, other armed groups that have abounded in South Sudan since the war for independence have also become more active. World leaders are urging the parties to refrain from violence and resolve the issues at the negotiating table, but, of course, no one listens to them. Dinka, Nuer and others are completely engaged in mutual destruction. They are distracted only by the shelling of UN helicopters and American convertiplanes, which are taking foreigners out of the country. The situation there can be described in one word: chaos.
The US State Department, having issued a condemnation of the shelling of its tiltrotor, faced an unexpected problem: it is not very clear who exactly to condemn. There are now such a number of armed people who are not subordinate to anyone that it is not possible to understand where, who and for (against) whom, now.
Most likely, South Sudan is waiting for extremely difficult times. Dinka and Nuer cannot defeat each other, and they are not going to stop hostility and put up with each other. Of course, they could also split into two countries, but then the process of division could become irreversible. The case may end with the fact that each of the 60 nationalities inhabiting South Sudan will demand independence. No acceptable way out of the current situation is yet to be seen.
The international community looks on in a kind of daze as the project of creating a peaceful, prosperous, democratic African country turns into its complete opposite. There are already voices around the world calling for the introduction of foreign peacekeepers into South Sudan before a massacre begins there, as in the neighboring Central African Republic, or even worse - as in Rwanda in 1994. As years of experience show, sub-Saharan African countries are having a hard time keeping out of civil war, left to their own devices.
More than 270 people have died since the resumption of armed clashes in South Sudan between forces supporting President Salva Kiir and supporters of Vice President Riek Machar. A bloody confrontation broke out on July 8 before the meeting of the two leaders, who planned to conclude a new armistice agreement, 5 years after the young state gained independence. The United States, with the active assistance of which sovereignty was granted, was forced the day before to withdraw part of the staff from the embassy capital city Juba.
From Arabs to Anglo-Saxons
One of the oil territories of Central Africa, South Sudan has been immersed in military conflicts for many years of its history. The country of traditional African beliefs, colonized by the Arabs, the Ottoman Porte, and then the British, survived the imposition of Islam and Christianity. The two civil wars that followed in the second half of the 20th century were a bloody cocktail of religious conflicts and tribal strife. According to various estimates, between 2.5 and 3 million people died as a result of the two wars.
South Sudan entered the 21st century with the hope of becoming independent from northern Sudan: Negotiations between the rebels and the government, held in 2003-2004, formally ended the 22-year civil war. On January 9, 2005, with the support of the US and the EU, the Naivasha Agreement was signed, which guaranteed the region's autonomy and the right to hold a referendum on independence.
But the peace did not last long: Arab and non-Arab realms coexisted with difficulty. After another outbreak of violence in September 2007, the UN decided to take control of the situation. South Sudan was visited by the Secretary General of the world organization Ban Ki-moon, and peacekeeping forces were brought into the conflict zone.
- Reuters
Sudan has been a focus of U.S. interests since the 1960s, but in the past two decades, Washington has turned to the country Special attention. In June 2010, the US announced that it would support the new state if the referendum was successful.
Backed by the most powerful Western power, South Sudan gained independence on July 9, 2011, but stability in the region has never been achieved. Since 2013, a conflict began between the president and the vice president, the next outbreak of which we have seen in recent days.
The Greater of Two Evils
The situation in the region is ambiguous, and there are fears that it is unfolding in the worst of possible scenarios, commented RT Associate Professor of the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg state university Igor Gerasimov. “The Americans who stood at the origins of the creation of South Sudan understand this very well and are trying to leave before it is too late,” he explained.
"The Americans who were at the origins of the creation of South Sudan understand this very well and are trying to leave before it's too late."
Associate Professor of the Oriental Faculty of St. Petersburg State University Igor Gerasimov
According to Gerasimov, the separation of South Sudan from the north is the result of a serious geopolitical game in which not only Washington and Brussels, but also, for example, Tel Aviv participate. Supporting the disengagement, these political centers indirectly or directly contributed to the appearance on the map of another territorial entity incapable of self-development: “A state appeared without any tradition of statehood, now cut off from the sea, with groups receiving financial support from abroad and driving around in expensive cars, but completely unable to create infrastructure, build institutions of power and govern peacefully.”
What happened in last years with Sudan in many ways resembles the Yugoslav scenario: the fragmentation of the country with the final betrayal of its head of public flagellation in an international court, Igor Gerasimov believes. “In northern Sudan, by the way, there is also a US embassy, but since they don’t want to listen to the ruling authorities there and declare that President Omar Hassan al-Bashir should appear before the Hague Tribunal, they are actually under a state of siege in their embassy,” expert added.
Divide and rule
According to Nikolai Shcherbakov, senior researcher at the Center for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the interests of many world powers intersect in the region, and for a variety of reasons. “South Sudan is a country that is surrounded on all sides by territories of unrest. As we know, there is a permanent UN mission there, it is a contingent of peacekeepers of 6,000 people. Almost all of them are from India.
But neither India, nor even Israel can compare with the United States in terms of political representation in Africa. In 2008, new milestones were reached in this process - the African Command of the US Armed Forces AFRICOM was launched.
Officially, the structure was created to coordinate the actions of the US Armed Forces in crisis areas of the continent, such as Sudan. As part of this project, the United States has already built a dozen drone bases. Similar infrastructure has been created in Djibouti, Niger, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burkina Faso and the Seychelles. South Sudan was no exception. In addition, at armed forces The US has built its own fuel storage facilities in Cameroon, Cape Verde, Tanzania, South Africa, in the Seychelles, Kenya and some other African countries. Finally, air force bases in Djibouti, Uganda and Burkina Faso are being actively developed.
From action to words
However, this rich American infrastructure did not bring Africa larger world and tranquility. Do not add to the Sudanese confidence in the future and diplomatic statements international organizations. “The UN Security Council, of course, is now accepting different kind resolutions calling for stopping the bloodshed and laying down their arms, but the question is who will comply with these resolutions on the spot, - comments on RT orientalist, political scientist, senior Researcher MGIMO Yuri Zinin. - The rebels in South Sudan are armed, including heavy weapons. It is very difficult to fight them, especially in difficult terrain. But the situation is already out of control.”
The situation is getting out of control - this is now openly declared by the US permanent representative to the UN Samantha Power. And one of the leading American publications, The Washington Post comes out with the headline: “The United States took home South Sudan 5 years ago. Now he's ready to leave."
"The situation is getting out of control."
US Permanent Representative to the UN Samantha Power
According to the publication, for decades, Americans have attached great importance to the role of their country in the relations of South Sudan with the north, trying to construct African history success. But in the end, “focusing on the idea of independence may have underestimated the depth of division,” concludes The Washington Post, referring either to the division of various Sudanese tribal groups, or, more generally, the division between Sudanese and Americans.
