THE world's newest country, South Sudan, is facing its first big test, barely two months after its inauguration. On August 18th a deadly cycle of cattle raids and revenge attacks reached a climax in the small town of Pieri, in Jonglei state, one of South Sudan's poorest and least developed. Armed men from the Murle ethnic group swept in at dawn, burning huts, slaughtering children in front of their mothers and causing thousands of people to flee into the bush. More than 600 ethnic Lou Nuer are reported killed, 200 children abducted, and 25,000 cows stolen.
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