Fresh fighting has erupted in South Sudan displacing more than 180,000 people, as witnesses report of killings and civilians fleeing in masses.
The country’s fragile peace is now coming under serious threat as rebels claim to be marching unto the capital, Juba.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country has been reeling under war, poverty and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011.
Rival factions have failed to reach peaceful settlement of their differences putting the country constantly under a state of insecurity.
“I am stuck and if worse comes, the only safe place for me to go is the swamps,” said Daniel Deng, 35, one of thousands displaced by fighting in Jonglei, told AFP.
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A power-sharing agreement between the two main factions is all but dead after President Salva Kiir moved against his vice president and long-time rival, Riek Machar, who was arrested last March and is now on trial for “crimes against humanity.”
Their forces have fought several times over the past year, but the most sustained clashes began in late December in Jonglei.
South Sudanese authorities estimate the number of displaced at more than 180,000 across four counties of Jonglei, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said this week.
“Most people are settling under trees. Their homes and health facilities have been looted or burned and there is a lot of hunger,” said Deng.
Kiir and Machar fought a five-year war shortly after independence that claimed 400,000 lives.
A 2018 power-sharing deal kept the peace for some years, but plans to hold elections and merge their armies did not materialize.
Source: Africa Feeds [additional materials from AFP]
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