Disagreement over how to handle violence in Juba County of Central Equatoria State has put the military on a collision course with the Bari Community, with its leaders increasingly vocal in their criticism of the forces.

The situation went out of hand in the past two weeks when youth from Mangala Payam of Juba County clashed with Dinka Bor cattle keepers, forcing thousands of villages to seek refuge in the islands.  

On Christmas Day, the military said it clashed with rebel forces in Mangala Payam and killed five rebel soldiers, a claim denied by the rebel group National Salvation Front (NAS).

Mangala Payam also hosts Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Bor County of Jonglei State.

Speaking at a press conference in Juba on Friday, Stephen Pitia Lako, Chairperson of the Bari Community, which inhabits Juba County, issued a strongly worded statement and called for the withdrawal of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) from the eastern and western sides of the River Nile.

Pitia said the military forces deployed to Mangala Payam to protect conflict-affected people are now posing insecurity and preventing the movement of civilians and goods.

 “The government should desist from labelling the Great people of Bari land as NAS rebels. We also call for the investigation of the baseless statement issued by Major General Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF spokesperson, for labelling our Bari village people as NAS rebels,” he said. “On 25th December, the SSPDF started shelling the displaced civilians in the islands with heavy weapons claiming that these were NAS rebel’s bases.”

 “The leadership of the Bari Community and all the Bari people are demanding the urgent vacation and return of Dinka Bor IDPs and cattle herders in Mangala and the entire Bari land to their places of origin,” he added.

The community leader called on President Salva Kiir to order all security forces to “immediately cease unwarranted offensive operations against innocent Bari people and the Bari land.”

“We, the Bari community, would like to inform the national and state governments that our Bari people living in islands are currently displaced with the recent fighting between the Dinka Bor cattle herders, invaders and the Bari people,” he said.

He added, “In the recent past, Dinka Bor people who migrated from their homeland due to different circumstances to the Bari land lived peacefully with the Bari people in their villages. Recently, however, and with the proliferation of firearms, they had turned and became not only enemies but invaders of the Bari land,” he added.

Mr. Pitia also said insecurity started in Mangala Payam, but it has since spread to Mori village of Gondokoro Payam. “In the presence of invaders, the cattle keepers killed, looted, and destroyed properties,” he said.

The community leader called on the government and the international community to rescue the displaced people from the dire humanitarian situation, saying the estimated number of conflict-displaced people between Juba and Mangala is more than 20,000.

When contacted to react to Pitia’s statement, SSPDF Spokesperson Major General Lul Ruai Koang said:” I cannot comment on it now; the statement talked of many things. I will give the statement to the Chief of Defense Forces to read it, and then he will tell me how to respond. So I cannot comment right now.”

“The military command will analyze the statement first before we respond. We might respond to the statement next week,” he added.

Dinka Bor community leadership could not immediately be reached for comment.