The Arrow Boys are a militia operating in the Western Equatoria region of South Sudan. The militia sprung up as a self-defense unit who get their name from their use of bows and arrows supposedly treated with poison, and other traditional weapons.[1]

Lord's Resistance Army rebellion edit

During the insurgency by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda, the Arrow Boys were formed in Teso in the Eastern Region as a self-defense militia.[2] As the Lord's Resistance Army fled Uganda into South Sudan, the militia spread there as well in order to defend against the LRA.

South Sudanese Civil War edit

When Dinka cattle herders, allegedly backed by the SPLA, occupied farmland, Azande youth rose up into militias mostly with the Arrow Boys,[3] whose leader Alfred Karaba Futiyo Onyang declared allegiance to SPLM-IO[4] and claimed to have occupied parts of Western Equatoria.[5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Feature stories:Fighting back". UNMIS. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Seminar:As Sharp as an Arrow:Reconstructing the 'Arrow Boys' Phenomenon in Eastern Uganda". Leiden University. 17 February 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Horrific attacks prompt South Sudan's communities to form armed groups". the guardian. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  4. ^ "SPLA-IO welcomes Arrow Boys to its fighting force". Sudan Tribune. 15 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Arrow Boys say they occupy several areas of Western Equatoria state". Sudan Tribune. 15 December 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.