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South Sudan violence leaves 166 civilians dead, thousands displaced: UN

Deadly conflict is a continuation of fighting that started in August in a village in Upper Nile over grazing areas and use of natural resources and has since spread to other states.

Reuters

Violence is rife in parts of South Sudan where clashes triggered by domestic disputes over grazing areas, water, cultivation grounds and other resources often turn deadly.

Violence in South Sudan's Upper Nile state has killed 166 civilians and displaced more than 20,000 since August amid an escalation in clashes between armed groups, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"These killings, along with reports of gender-based violence, abductions, destruction of property and looting, are severe human rights violations and abuses and must stop," UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on Wednesday.

Violence is rife in parts of South Sudan where clashes triggered by domestic disputes over grazing areas, water, cultivation grounds and other resources often turn deadly.

The UN refugee agency said last week the conflict was a continuation of fighting that started in August in a village in Upper Nile, and has since spread to other parts of the state and areas of Jonglei and Unity states.

South Sudan's army spokesperson Lul Ruai Koang said the level of violence had started to ease since the military deployed forces to the area, pushing the fighters from rival communities back.

He could not say how many soldiers had been sent.

"It is just a matter of time before the situation will be brought under control," Koang said.

AFP

The country's volatile politics has exacerbated the friction in many parts of the country, fanning the violence that left almost 400,000 dead in recent years.

Increased abductions, child trafficking

But the latest bloodshed risks spreading beyond the region, Turk said, unless local authorities and community leaders act quickly to de-escalate tension between the armed groups.

"It is important that the government of South Sudan conducts a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the violence and brings all those responsible to account in accordance with international law," he said.

The ongoing violence in South Sudan, which split from Sudan in 2011, contributes to an increase in abductions and sales of children, UN special rapporteur on trafficking in persons Siobhan Mullally said in a statement.

"Conflict-related sexual violence including trafficking remains a serious concern," Mullally said.

The country's volatile politics can exacerbate the friction, fanning the violence.

Two years after the country declared independence from Sudan, fighting broke out between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and his ex-deputy-turned-rival Riek Machar.

A peace agreement signed in September 2018, the latest in a series reached since the conflict began in late 2013, is largely holding.

South Sudan's civil war, often fought along ethnic lines, is estimated to have claimed close to 400,000 lives.

The latest violence also risks exacerbating the acute food insecurity in the country.

In November, the UN warned that almost eight million people in South Sudan or two-thirds of the population were at risk of hunger.