SUMMARY

The relation between the Shiluk and the Ngok Dinka has traditionally been good and intermarriage between the groups has been common. However, at some points they have ended up in conflict due to the larger war taking place in the area. The main reason for this occasional fighting has been different claims over land and relations between the two groups have deteriorated in the second half of the 2000s as both of the groups claim that Malakal, the capital of the Upper Nile region in South Sudan, belonging to them.

The non-state conflict between the Ngok Dinka and the Shiluk is first included in UCDP data in 2009. In January that year, fighting in Malakal town resulted in at least 70 battle-related deaths.