Just in 2011, South Sudan became
the world’s newest nation.
South Sudanese people voted to split from Sudan
and the referendum ended the longest-running war
on the African continent.
Salva Kiir, from the Dinka tribe, won the presidency
and Riek Machar, a Nuer, became his vice president.
In 2013, however, Kiir accused Machar of planning a
coup and the country quickly descended into civil war.
And it has been brutal: food aid has been systematically
blocked, sparking famine in parts of the country.
Those fleeing say forces are killing indiscriminately,
often along tribal lines.
The conflict is so heated, South Sudan is now the
fastest-growing humanitarian crisis in the world.
It’s also incredibly complicated.
In a country smaller than the state of Texas,
there are 60 tribes and many of their long-term
feuds have become part of the greater conflict.
One example: In a town called Wau, the Fertit
are farmers and the Dinka's are herders.
They’ve clashed over grazing land for decades.
Shortly after independence, the government
changed regional boundaries that made those
tensions worse … and at the same time fighting
erupted between the government and Nuer rebels.
Some of them fled into Fertit territory,
making the Fertit look like rebels, too.
The government took aim at the Fertits, who
then joined the rebellion... and a decades-old battle
about cows suddenly became a civil war
fueled by tribalism.
Now, multiply that a few dozen times and you’ll have an
understanding of how complex the dynamics are in South Sudan.
