Tribal fighting erupted on 18 April in several villages of Akobo County in Jonglei State, killing at least 195 people and wounding about 70 others, according to local authorities.

Tribal fighting erupted on 18 April in several villages of Akobo County in Jonglei State, killing at least 195 people and wounding about 70 others, according to local authorities.

"Nyandit payam (township) of Akobo County was attacked early in the morning ... from both sides of the Akobo River," said Akobo County executive director Moses Ajak Ojoch. "The number of dead is 195 and is bound to increase."

Ojoch stated that armed Murle tribesmen burned 13 Lou Nuer villages to the ground and blocked all escape routes. Villagers were forced into the river, where an unknown number drowned

A joint UN/non-governmental organization (NGO) assessment team visited Akobo on 21 April to find that 10 children had been abducted, eight had been wounded and many others were missing. The missing children could have been abducted, drowned or killed, according to the team, which consisted of staff members from UNMIS, UNICEF, the UN Resident Coordinator's Office, the World Food Programme and the Swiss-based NGO Medair.

The assessment team's report observed that many of the estimated thousands of people displaced by the fighting were lacking food after commercial routes between Akobo and Nasir Counties were closed. The French NGO Medecins sans Frontieres sent a doctor and medical supplies to the stricken area to treat emergency needs after the outbreak of the attack.

Akobo County executive director Moses Ajak Ojoch asserted that two Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) platoons were stationed in Nyandit payam at the time of the attacks, adding that only police were permitted to intervene in civilian disputes. "The police tried to separate two civilians who were engaged in fighting," he said. "Two policemen were killed and three were wounded."

Conflicts between the Murle and Lou Nuer tribes have been flaring since early March amid mutual accusations of cattle raiding between the two tribes as well as abductions of women and children.

Lou Nuer tribesmen attacked a number of Murle villages last month, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives. "What happened in Nyandit payam of Akobo County was a revenge by the Murle," said Ojoch.