UN concerned about South Sudan conflict
The United Nations has expressed concern over the ongoing tensions in South Sudan, saying gunmen rape girls, abduct boys and torch towns in the African country.
In a statement on Tuesday, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said it was "increasingly concerned" about reports of "towns and villages being burned, killings, abductions of males as young as 10 years of age, rape and abduction of girls and women, and the forced displacement of civilians" in the two northeastern counties of Guit and Koch.
South Sudan plunged into chaos in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy and current rebel leader Riek Machar around the capital, Juba.
Clashes between government troops and rebel forces in South Sudan’s northern state of Unity has so far left over 300,000 civilians without “life-saving aid” as UN members and international aid agencies withdrew due to heavy fighting.
"Ongoing hostilities in Unity state have now obliged all non-governmental organizations and UN agencies to evacuate staff from Leer and other locations," said Toby Lanzer, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, on Monday.
"As a consequence, over 300,000 civilians who are in need of emergency relief, including food aid and medical services, do not currently have access to such life-saving assistance,” the UN official added.
The UN estimates that tens of thousands of people have been killed and another 1.5 million displaced since the conflict began in South Sudan.
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