On 14–15 April 2006 members of the Murle attacked the Pal Buol (also called the Lare) in Jikawo, and 16 people were killed and 9 wounded.
Mary Boyoi, singer, human rights activist and philanthropist, is from the Murle tribe of South Sudan.
The declaration marked an escalation in the ongoing clashes between the SPLA, the Murle, and the Lou Nuer in Jonglei and Upper Nile, which began when armed Murle fighters under the influence of George Athor's South Sudan Democratic Movement launched a cattle raid against the Lou Nuer in Jonglei state.
Murle | Murle people |
David Yau Yau is (as of January 28, 2013) the leader of a Murle insurrection against the South Sudanese government in Jonglei state.
Further west, Lopa/Lafon, Torit and Ikwoto counties are inhabited by the Otuho, Lopit, Lango, Pari, and Tenet people who inhabit a portion of Lopit hills after they split from Didinga and Murle early in 19th century and Lokoya of Lowoi.
It as intended as a model to show that the different peoples of the area including Toposa, Jiye, Murle, Nyangatom and Kachipo could live and work together in harmony.
The dominat people group are the Anuak who border the Murle to the west and the Nuer to the North, both of whom are cattle keeping tribes, who have a culture of raiding to increase their cattle numbers.
The original geographic home of the Surmic peoples is thought to be in Southwestern Ethiopia, somewhere near Maji, with the various groups dispersing from there: for example, the Majangir having moved north, the Murle having migrated clockwise around Lake Turkana (Arensen 1983:56-61, Tornay 1981), and the Mursi having moved into and out of the Omo River valley.
The crash site was near the front of ongoing fighting between the SPLA and Murle rebels led by David Yau Yau.