Gettleman cites UN sources who say in past weeks their aircraft monitored thousands of fighters of the Lou Nuer ethnic group advance toward Pibor, the home of the rival Murle ethnic group.
Gettleman quotes Pibor County commissioner, Joshua Konvi, who says 2,182 women and children, and 959 men were killed, while 1,293 children were abducted and more than 375,000 cows taken.
Konvi said many perished as they fled, chased into a river where they were swept away.
“We’ve
been counting the bodies... It’s really a genocide. If you come, you will see.”
UN peacekeepers had reportedly attempted to stop the Lou Nuer advance, but were vastly outnumbered. UN spokesman in South Sudan, Kouider Zerrouk, says the residents of Pibor were advised to flee, and that there may be as many as 50,000 scattered across the rugged area of forests and swamps.
