Leer, South Sudan
| Leer | |
|---|---|
 Leer
|
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| Coordinates: 8°17′52″N 30°08′51″E / 8.297855°N 30.147525°ECoordinates: 8°17′52″N 30°08′51″E / 8.297855°N 30.147525°E | |
| Country |
 South Sudan
|
| State | Unity State |
| County | Leer County |
| Population (2015) | |
| • Total | 10,486 |
Leer (or Ler) is a small town in Unity State (or Western Upper Nile) in South Sudan. It is the headquarters of Leer County.
Leer is in Dok Nuer territory. It is located in Block 5A, an important oil-producing area in the north of South Sudan. Leer is a 1.5-hour flight from Juba or a two-day bus drive from Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The roads are not usable in the rainy season, when the only means of travel is by boat on the River Nile. There are no commercial flights to Leer, only aircraft contracted by the World Food Programme or missionary organizations like the Mission Aviation Fellowship fly in to support the work of humanitarian workers and to develop the Christian church which is growing rapidly. Leer County has been described as "a sprawling, flat, marshland littered with oil fields".
The Second Sudanese Civil War broke out in 1983 and the break-away Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) captured Leer in March 1986. Later the government-backed South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) militia under Riek Machar regained control of Block 5A. Unlike other oilfields, there was no forcible displacement of the civilian population until about 1998, when a new consortium led by the Swedish company Lundin Petroleum started oil exploration. At that time a rival Nuer militia under Major General Paulino Matiep began attacking communities in the block, including Leer.
In a series of attacks on Leer starting in April 1998 the Paulino Matiep forces burned the roof of the large brick hospital, destroyed the Catholic church, burned the market and caused much other damage. Later the hospital was razed to the ground. By July 1998, 250 houses, fifty shops, and 2,500 cattle compounds had been destroyed in Ler town. The Matiep forces stole or killed cattle and made women act as porters. By December 1998 the WFP said that Ler, which had once been a center for food and health services, had become a ghost town. Riek Machar’s SSDF forces became disillusioned with the government and turned to the SPLA.
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