The mayor of the capital of Jonglei has urged civilians to avoid returning to the town for the time being owing to widespread destruction and the possibilities for continuing insecurity. 

A number of witnesses in Bor town, capital of Jonglei State, have attested to the utter devastation there since clashes started after the mutiny in the army garrisons in the area in mid December.

They described Bor as a ghost town and ruled out any return by the population in the near future. Mayor Nhial Majak Nhial told Radio Tamazuj from Bor that the town was completely destroyed including homes, government institutions, and markets.

Nhial attributed the destruction to wanton lawlessness of the rebels, but opposition spokesman Yohanis Musa blamed the death and destruction in Bor on the government and Ugandan troops who captured the city, saying they were "bombing the town every day."

"Bor is our town. We cannot destroy it," Musa told Voice of America from Addis Ababa, adding, "the South Sudan government are the ones who brought in Ugandan troops, so they are the ones who can hold responsibility as well."

According to the mayor, there is still an ‘overwhelming’ smell of death in the town. “We are telling the general public to remain a little bit far from coming back to town for the town cleaning to be done and clearance. This is what we’re working on.”

“The main thing is to clean the town of bodies and be able to dispose of the bodies properly,” said Nhial Majak Nhial.

The mayor’s directives come after the SPLA commander in the town last Tuesday told the BBC “I want the people to return and resume their normal lives."

Nhial estimated the number of total dead at 2500 to 2700 people in the town, saying “the town is actually littered with dead bodies and decaying human remains.”

He alleged that the rebels killed 38 people in the main cathedral, and 13 people in the hospital. According to an SPLA information officer who spoke to Radio Tamazuj, many of the dead were found in block 7, 8 and 9 of the town.

The mayor said they decided to bury the bodies in one place in order to create “a memorial ground for this aimless killing of human beings without regret.”

He added that government officials have not yet been asked to resume duties in the state capital, as is the case in the recently recaptured town of Bentiu to the north.

Photo: A shot of Bor town during a trip for media organized by the South Sudanese army one day after the recapture of the town, 19 January 2013 (VRT/Rudi Vranckx)