Maban county, Upper Nile state, South Sudan, August 2014 Until early August, Maban county was mostly famous for the misery of others. Nearly 130,000 Sudanese refugees live - and sometimes die - in desperately difficult conditions in several makeshift camps in Maban, having fled the fighting in Blue Nile, over the border in Sudan. Their suffering has been a recurring news story over the last few years: Sudan's troubles exported to South Sudan. On August 4 and 5, Maban's own problems made the headlines. At least five South Sudanese aid workers (some reports said six) were killed. They were singled out on the basis of their ethnicity. All were Nuer - the same ethnic group as the rebel leader Riek Machar, and the vast majority of his fighters. The UN and other bodies say the aid workers were entirely blameless. The killings were pinned on a previously unknown group, the Maban Defence Force (MDF). The MDF had clashed with Nuer deserters from the SPLA, and subsequently allegedly targeted Nuers working with international aid organisations. More than two hundred aid workers had to be evacuated, with the UN hastily deploying peacekeepers to what had been considered a relatively calm part of [...]
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