Familiar trouble in southern Sudan

A Sudanese warlord called George Athor is at it again, playing the spoiler at a time when southern Sudanese are eagerly awaiting their country’s birth as the world’s newest nation.

Last month Athor’s rebel fighters clashed with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the south’s armed forces, over a few days in Fangak County and the fighting left perhaps 200 dead. Each side said the other started it and, as so often in these far-flung bush battles, most of the dead were civilians caught in the crossfire or deliberately targeted.

It went quiet for a couple of weeks but now there are reports of renewed deadly clashes. Athor says he’s killed over 100 SPLA soldiers since Sunday, a figure the army spokesman disputes. In any case, both sides agree that dozens have died.

The southern government regularly accuses Athor of being supported by Khartoum which has a long history of backing its enemies’ enemies. But the more likely explanation is local: Athor is a former general and civil war veteran who launched his rebellion after losing a governorship election last year and has fallen out with his former comrades in the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

This has both positive and negative implications. On the one hand a local dispute is more likely to find a local solution; on the other, this kind or intra-southern conflict is exactly what many observers fear will derail dreams of peace in the region.