Death Toll after Southern Sudan Violence Estimated at 100

At least 76 people have been killed, with one report putting the number of deaths at over 100, after civilians and security forces in a village in Southern Sudan were attacked by armed men from a rival ethnic group.

A majority of reports, such as the one on France 24, are putting the death toll from the attack on the village of Duk Padiet, which is in the state of Jonglei, at 76. However the BBC is saying that over 100 people were killed when armed men, supposedly numbering in their thousands, from the Lou Nuer ethnic group attacked the village. France 24 confirms that Duk Padiet, which is now free of any attackers, is inhabited by people of the Dinka ethnic group. Whilst the attack that took place might have been considered revenge for the 185 Lou Nuers killed during August in an attack elsewhere in Jonglei the BBC states that it was fighters from yet another ethnic group, the Murle, responsible for those deaths. Major General Kuol Diem Kuol of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), who is the person claiming that 76 people died and 46 were injured at the weekend, the deaths include 11 of his own fighters and 11 members of the security forces, believes that the national government in the Sudanese capital Khartoum is responsible for supporting militias who are destabilizing the south of the country. It is a view which Peter Martell, who is a BBC correspondent based in Juba, the capital of the autonomous south, has said is shared by many others. Disputes over cattle and ownership of or access to natural resources are not uncommon in Sudan but the violence is said to have escalated considerably in recent times, with women and children often the victims. There have reportedly been around 2,000 deaths in the southern region since January, as a result of violence like that seen over the weekend. In addition 250,000 people have been displaced during the same period. The UN is apparently saying that the number of people being killed in the region is greater than the number losing their lives in Darfur, an area in the west of Sudan which has attracted much international attention since a war between government forces, supported by militias commonly known as the Janjaweed, and rebels began in 2003. With regard to the reason why the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in Khartoum might be sowing the seeds of further conflict in Southern Sudan, that appears to be connected to a national election scheduled for 2010 and a referendum due to take place in 2011. In 2005 a civil war than began in 1983, and is thought to have claimed nearly two million lives, mainly civilians as a result of drought and starvation, was brought to an end by a peace deal which gave the south of Sudan, mainly populated by Christians, autonomy from the Muslim-dominated North. Come 2011 a referendum will be held in which those living in Southern Sudan get to vote on whether they would like to break away completely from the North. Political figures in the South suspect that President al-Bashir is attempting to delay one or both of the votes that are due to take place. A vote in favor of Southern independence would almost certainly diminish the power of his government in Khartoum. President al-Bashir has been in office, as either Prime Minister or President, since 1989.