Rebels in South Sudan have made another attempt to “cleanse” the country’s ethnic and political disparities. Sunday, under the leadership of former vice president Riek Machar, rebels carried out another attack leaving a trail of deceased victims — a strategy to turn followers against president Salva Kiir, CCTV Africa reported. Since violence broke out two weeks ago in Juba, at least 1,000 people in South Sudan have been killed.

“What I’m seeing is a lot of dead bodies. Inside the compound, the rebels themselves actually entered with guns. We asked the UN to protect us,” one local told said in the report.

Jonglei mayor Nyiang Majak Nyiang responded saying:

“The difference between life and death for the people who were in this town was very thin. We were actually traumatized by it. We’ve seen a great deal of the population of the people suffering.”