The 2014 Bentiu massacre occurred on 15 April 2014 in the town of Bentiu, in the north of

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

, during the

South Sudanese Civil War The South Sudanese Civil War was a multi-sided civil war in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état. ...

. The attack has been described by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' as the "worst massacre" of the civil war.

Prelude

Prior to the attack, people had sought refuge in places of worship and healing,An ‘abomination’: Slaughter in the mosques and churches of Bentiu, South Sudan
washingtonpost.com. while a local radio station featured rebel commanders warning certain ethnic groups, except the

Nuer Nuer may refer to: * Nuer people * Nuer language The Nuer language (Thok Naath) ("people's language") is a Nilotic language of the Western Nilotic group. It is spoken by the Nuer people of South Sudan and in western Ethiopia (region of Gamb ...

s, that they were coming for them, calling on the other groups to rape the non-Nuer women.

Attack

UN human rights investigators said that after rebels wrested Bentiu from government forces in heavy battles, the gunmen spent two days hunting down those who they believed opposed them.S.Sudan rebels slaughter 'hundreds' in ethnic massacres: UN
, news.yahoo.com. The killers, identified by the United Nations as forces of the Nuer-led SPLM/A-IO, went from place to place, from mosque to church to hospital, separating people by ethnicity and religion and shooting the ones left behind. Civilians were killed in the town's main hospital, in a Catholic church and especially in the Kali-Ballee mosque,South Sudan: Bentiu atrocity will not be the last unless pleas for help are heard
theguardian.com. where hundreds had taken shelter and where the rebels "separated individuals of certain nationalities and ethnic groups and escorted them to safety, while the others were killed," according to a UN report. One of those who only barely escaped death during the massacre was the prominent former

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

and pro-government commander

Peter Par Jiek Peter Par Jiek (1950s – 9 April 2017) was a brigadier general of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and veteran of the Second Sudanese Civil War. In the course of that conflict, Par fought under Riek Machar with several rebel and pro-go ...

. A week after the attack, bodies still littered the streets.

Casualties

South Sudan's government said the death toll from the massacre exceeded 400. In the main mosque alone, "more than 200 civilians were reportedly killed and over 400 wounded," the UN mission in the country said. According to a source, many of the victims were

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese, in particular traders from Darfur as well as soldiers from the

Justice and Equality Movement The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; ar, حركة العدل والمساواة, ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in Dec ...

(JEM), a Sudanese rebel group from Darfur accused of supporting the South Sudanese government. According to the source, JEM fighters removed their uniforms and hid in the mosque, before being shot. However, a Sudanese human rights group rejected this claim, saying those killed were unarmed civilians. Many other victims were civilians as well as SPLA soldiers belonging to the Dinka people, an ethnic group which had traditionally supported Kiir's government.

Aftermath

Rebel leader Riek Machar said his forces were not behind the killings and rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said, "the government forces and their allies committed these heinous crimes while retreating."South Sudan sacks army chief over Bentiu
sbs.com.au. The massacre at Bentiu greatly increased the animosity of Dinkas against ethnic Nuer in

Bahr el Ghazal Bahr el-Ghazal (Arabic بحر الغزال , also transliterated ''Bahr al-Ghazal'', ''Baḩr al-Ghazāl'', ''Bahr el-Gazel'', or versions of these without the hyphen) may refer to two distinct places, both named after ephemeral or dry rivers. Chad ...

which had previously been largely peaceful and unaffected by the civil war. Families of Dinka soldiers killed at Bentiu attacked a Nuer SPLA soldier at Mapel,

Western Bahr el Ghazal Western Bahr el Ghazal is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of and is the least populous state in South Sudan, according to the controversial Sudanese census conducted in 2008. It is part of the Bahr el Ghazal region. Its capital is Wau. ...

, in April 2014, resulting in inter-tribal clashes and the massacre of up to 200 Nuer soldiers by Dinka soldiers. This violence led to the mass desertion of Nuer SPLA members in Bahr el Ghazal who then fled north into

in course of a

long march The Long March (, lit. ''Long Expedition'') was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the National Army of the Chinese ...

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last= , first= , title=The Conflict in Northern and Western Bahrel Ghazal States , publisher=

Small Arms Survey The Small Arms Survey (SAS) is an independent research project located at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. It provides information on all aspects of small arms and armed violence, as a resour ...

, location=

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...