The UN warns that ongoing clashes between government troops and rebel forces in South Sudan’s northern state of Unity has 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,” Toby Lanzer, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, said in a statement released on Monday.
He added, “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.”
Lanzer said on May 9 that up to 100,000 South Sudanese people fled their homes in the first week of the month alone due to heavy fighting between government troops and rebel forces in the state of Unity.
The new statement comes as the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) announced on May 7 that the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) seeking refuge with it has grown to 53,000 following the latest bout of fighting in the Northeastern African country.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said more than 500 uprooted people had arrived at the UNMISS civilian protection site in the town of Bentiu, the capital of Unity state, since May 3.
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. The clashes have left tens of thousands of people dead and forced almost two million people from their homes.
Both army soldiers and rebel forces have been accused of widespread atrocities during the violence. The two sides have held several rounds of peace talks, but the negotiations have so far failed to produce a lasting truce deal between the conflicting sides.
South Sudan gained independence in July 2011 after its people overwhelmingly voted in a referendum for a split from Sudan.
MP/MKA/HRB
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