'Piles and piles' of bodies in S. Sudan slaughter
Source: AP-Excite
By JASON STRAZIUSO
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The townsfolk believed the mosque was safe. They crammed inside as rebel forces in South Sudan took control of the town from government troops. But it wasn't safe. Robbers grabbed their cash and mobile phones. Then gunmen came and opened fire on everyone, young and old.
The U.N. says hundreds of civilians were killed in the massacre last week in Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan's oil-producing Unity state, a tragic reflection of longstanding ethnic hostilities in the world's newest country.
"Piles and piles" of bodies were left behind after the shootings, said Toby Lanzer, the top U.N. aid official in South Sudan. Many were in the mosque. Others were in the hospital. Still more littered the streets. The violence appears to have been incited in part by calls on the radio for revenge attacks, including rapes.
The attack, which targeted members of certain ethnic groups, was a disturbing echo of what happened two decades ago in another country in eastern Africa. Rwanda is marking the 20th anniversary this month of a genocide that killed an estimated 1 million people and also saw orders to kill broadcast over the radio.
FULL story at link.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140422/DADBDUIO1.html
The graphic photo can be viewed at the story link.
In this image taken from video, dead bodies lie on the road near Bentiu, South Sudan, on Sunday, April 20, 2014. The United Nations' top humanitarian official in South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, that the ethnically targeted killings are "quite possibly a game-changer" for a conflict that has been raging since mid-December and that has exposed longstanding ethnic hostilities. There was also a disturbing echo of Rwanda, which is marking the 20th anniversary this month of its genocide that killed 1 million people. (AP Photo/Toby Lanzer, United Nations)
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