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UN expresses concern over surge in violence in South Sudan

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The United Nations has voiced concern over a surge in violence in three states in South Sudan ,renewed fighting in parts of the country has escalated.

Innocent civilians caught up in the violence have taken shelter at temporary camps with casualties including children nursing gunshot wounds sustained during attacks.

In Leer town, Unity State which is held by the government, leaders blamed rebels and young cattle raiders for the violence, while in Dablual, an opposition- controlled territory, and local leaders say the government is targeting people in villages across the region.

Displaced civilian Nyakui Kong says:”People outside are being killed. Sometimes they hang you. Someone tried to hang me on a tree but luckily I fell down and ran to the United Nations base.”

Soldiers came and looked for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army -In Opposition (SPLM-IO) soldiers.

SPLM-IO’s Joseph Nhial says:”They come and kill the children, kill the old women, kill the old men, and destroy everything. They burn all the houses, they destroy everything, even the borehole which is now broken.”

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General said there were increased clashes in Unity, Jonglei and Central Equatorial states.

UN David Shearer says: “Today, after seeing what I have seen here, houses burned, children shot, the discussion of more conflict, and more war, cattle raiding, it’s pretty disappointing. I know this is only one place but all across South Sudan there is conflict like this happening, if not happening in one place, then in another.”

Tens of thousands of people have died and a third of South Sudan’s 12 million populations have fled their homes since the war broke in 2013.

President Salva Kiir, whose mandate expired in April, has made clear he wants a new election. But the U.N. investigators say would make the war worse if held before he accepts peacekeepers, a ceasefire and political opposition.

The East African bloc of nations IGAD and other international bodies are seeking to resolve differences between by engaging the side including going to Pretoria in order to engage Riek Machar.

Meanwhile South Sudan vice president, Taban Deng Gai has formally folded his party and joined the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement of President Salva Kirr.

A move aimed at bolstering the legitimacy of Kirr’s government.

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