South Sudan: Independence or Avenue for Tribal Carnage?

South Sudan is the youngest nation, not only on the African continent, but on earth. It is a nation that many in Africa had hoped will be able to get its onus right and move away from the Sudan experience of wars and carnage.

No sooner had South Sudan became independent than numerous crises began. First it was oil bout with Sudan which almost led to war over Abyei. Then, tribal conflicts began and now becoming a major quagmire for the newest African nation.

Officials in South Sudan revealed that more than 300 people were killed and thousands sent fleeing into bush during two weeks of fighting between the army, rebels and rival tribes in the east of the country in July. The east is the major flash-point in South Sudan.

The army is grappling with a rebellion led by politician David Yau Yau in vast Jonglei state and new clashes have broken out between the Lou Nuer and Murle tribes. More than 1,600 people have been killed in a cycle of tribal violence in Jonglei since the break-up of Africa's largest country.

According to Reuters, a team of local chiefs travelling around Pibor County in Jonglei had reported 328 deaths so far - all Murle members and some of them women and children, according to Jodi Jonglei Boyoris, a senior state representative. The number of Lou Nuer killed and wounded remained unknown.

The death toll is expected to rise although the fighting had died down this month. Representatives of the South Sudan army and humanitarian groups said they were not able to confirm the figures. Boyoris said the fighting ended nearly three weeks ago but local officials were only now able to count the number of killed and wounded as people had started returning to their homes.

The United Nations has said thousands of people are hiding in the bush outside Pibor town in Jonglei to avoid the conflict between the army and Yau Yau, who says he is fighting corruption, army abuses and one-party rule in South Sudan.

The United Nations estimates 100,000 people have been affected by the conflict, with many fleeing to the bush and cut off from humanitarian access. To boost security, the UN recently advocated for drones and gunships to be deployed.

The situation in South Sudan could degenerate into cataclysmic civil war in the fashion of another Sudan or Somalia. In fact, Africa has two Somalias to currently contend with. One is South Sudan, the other is Central African Republic.