South Sudanese soldiers who attacked villages in Unity State and killed the boys told survivors that they targeted children “because they are fighting us,” according to a survivor account.

A 32-year old woman who survived a recent attack told staff of the UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) that attackers tried to burn her house, raped the village women and attacked their children.

“The other women in [my] house were pulled out of the house and raped. I don’t know where the boy and the women are now. I managed to run away... They took the town’s girls and raped them.”

“They took my neighbor. She was 17 years old. She was taken from her house and they raped her,” said the survivor, referred to by UNICEF as 'Angelina.'

“Many soldiers raped her, and when they finished with her, she tried to run away, so they killed her.” 

Angelina added, “The soldiers were saying, 'We’re doing this because your children are fighting us.'" 

Another survivor, 22-year old 'Mary' said, “I saw some children killed. I also saw some children being kidnapped. They took the boys. They raped girls and women.”

“They even raped women who had recently delivered. They gathered all of the women in town and then they selected the young ones. The ones that weren’t abducted came back crying to us.”

Mary added, “People are missing. I don’t know where they are. Some ran to the north, others ran to the bush, and others may have been taken. I don’t know for sure. We were all running for our lives.”

Nyalata, 17 years old, told UNICEF that the attackers came from Mayom, a government-held area in the northwest of Unity State. She said that she escaped into swamps with her boys aged 16 and 17.

“We went to the swamps and we stayed there until it was night. When we left to come here, there were many dead bodies on the road. It was a mix of girls, boys and men. They shot them all.”

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