Bodies of six people captured by rioters in Western Bahr el Ghazal last week were found lying in the open in Farajalla area of Wau County, the state government announced.
Derek Alfred, state minister of information, told Radio Tamazuj on Monday that the government discovered that a group of 28 citizens were taken hostage by protesters since 9 December, the Sunday on which protesters in Wau town were shot and killed.
Acting on a tip Friday, a team from the security services together with UNMISS rushed to the site of the massacre at Farajalla, approximately 30 kilometers from Wau.
They found six bodies lying in the open, including two women. The bodies were taken to the hospital morgue, where doctors estimated that the executions were carried out on 9 December, said Alfred.
The discovery suggests that the Wau crisis, which began as a political battle within the state government, may have taken on the character of a more overt ethnic conflict. However, the government is yet to provide evidence to directly link the killings at Farajalla to the events in Wau town during which 8 people were killed.
Photographs of the execution site obtained from the state government show six partially decomposed bodies lying among tall grasses. One photo shows four bodies in close proximity to each other. On top of one of the victims lies a small pistol.
At least three of the victims appear to have had their hands bound together. But possibly all of the victims were bound in this manner; the low resolution of the photos and decomposed state of the bodies makes it difficult to tell.
The minister said that the majority of the captives were from the areas bordering Western Bahr el Ghazal and were working as agricultural laborers. The farmers were reportedly taken hostage by the protesters in the area of Baggari, the proposed site of the new county capital. The remaining 22 hostages are still detained, the government spokesman believes.
Derek Alfred also disclosed that seven suspects have been arrested, claiming that they have confessed and will be brought to trial. In the same context, the state governor Rizik Zacharia Hassan has appealed to the relatives of the victims to be patient and let the law prevail, explaining that the dead will be buried today.
Radio Tamazuj was unable to contact protesters for comment on this news.
Photo: Authorities prepare to transfer execution victims from Farajalla to the morgue at Wau Teaching Hospital.
Related coverage:
Religious leaders briefed on Wau killings (15 December)
UNMISS calls for ‘restraint and accountability’ after Wau riots (13 December)
Death toll in Wau protests 8 and wounded 24 (11 December)
Photos: Trucks destroyed in Wau protests (11 December)
Photos: Burial procession of Wau protesters (11 December)
Governor orders curfew, probe into killings of Wau youth (9 December)
Breaking: Armed clashes in Wau town (9 December)
WBG governor accuses commissioner of incitement (12 November)
Exclusive: Rizik defends vote of divided assembly (30 October)