SUMMARY

Part of the Atuot Dinka community lives in the Lakes State whilst part of the Jur Beli community lives in Western Equatoria. These two states neighbor each other and sometimes the two communities end up in conflict with each other – often because of issues like cattle and grazing. Therefore, the relationship between Jur Beli and the Atuot Dinka has been conflictual. As the Jur Beli are agriculturalists traditional cattle raiding has not been the main cause of conflict but rather problems related to cattle such as grazing. Thus, in contrast to most of the communal conflicts in South Sudan this is a farmer-herder conflict and not a herder-herder conflict that is the most common type of conflict.

The non-state conflict between the Atuot Dinka and the Jur Beli was first included in UCDP data in 2011. In mid-March of that year, clashes between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.