(English) Hiding from horror in the swamps of South Sudan

Leer, South Sudan – Civilians in one of South Sudan’s most desperate regions accuse their government of indiscriminate killings in recent months, forcing thousands to flee to swamp islands for safety where there is little medicine or food.

Leer county in war-torn Unity state is the birthplace of South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer, whose forces have battled those of President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, since December 2013. But the situation in Nuer-majority Unity is complicated by the split in Nuer loyalties. The fighting is largely between Nuer factions loyal to the government and rebel counterparts.

The civil war in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million, according to the United Nations.

Fighting in Leer has been so intense that aid groups evacuated their staff twice this year. Most recently, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the International Committee of the Red Cross evacuated in the first week of October as fighting raged, despite an August peace deal signed by Kiir and Machar.

Last week, clashes erupted again.

No journalists had reached Leer county since May. Al Jazeera gained rare access to the rebel-held area during a window of calm between the October clashes, travelling through swamps for days to reach civilians living within earshot of the front lines.
On the island of Tuoch Riak, hundreds of families stayed under tarpaulins in the forests. They told of government soldiers and their allies hunting down civilians who fled into the marshes to escape attacks.

“In Tuoch Riak they are killing even children,” said Martha Nyamai, a mother who is taking care of nine relatives.

“They would shoot into the papyrus,” she said, showing scars on her legs from running through the sharp marsh grasses. “When they shoot, you dive under water then breathe just through your nose and mouth.”

Nyamai described a five-day stretch in August when government forces and their allies attacked the island every day. She said she hid in stands of tall grass with her children from dawn until dusk, holding their heads below the water whenever the shooting began.

During one of these episodes, a bullet struck a woman hiding two metres from her.

On the islands and mainland of Leer county, rows of torched structures stretched for kilometres. Locals said these were burned in government attacks. The remains of a church stood in the village of Thonyoor with white crosses painted on its charred walls.

Survivors described a scene of chaos that has spread since May. They told of government forces – equipped at times with tanks, Land Cruisers, and armoured vehicles – raiding village after village, killing civilians, raping and abducting women and girls, and looting cattle, the source of livelihood in the area.Government troops were joined by loyal Nuer militias from the Bul and Jaggey clans further north, survivors said.

The government launched an offensive through southern Unity state in April, heavily reliant on irregular militia and rife with reports of human rights abuses, according to the United Nations and Human Rights .