South Sudan

Thousands Flee ‘Intense Fighting’ in Eastern South Sudan: MSF

Thousands of people have fled a fresh wave of intercommunal clashes in South Sudan's eastern region of Pibor, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Thursday.

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Nine Militia Fighters Arrested in Central African Republic Killings

Nine fighters from an armed group that launched a week-long attack last week in south-eastern Central African Republic have been arrested. The assailants belong to a branch of the CAR’s biggest armed group, the Unity for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), the country’s special criminal court said in a statement on Monday. The court is responsible for trying cases of serious human rights violations in the country, which has been ravaged by conflict for more than 20 years. The UPC has committed “widespread and systematic attacks on the civilian population,” the court said. During the attacks on the town of Obo last week, government forces backed by U.N. troops killed around 10 fighters from the rebel militia and captured others, a government spokesman had told AFP. Led by a mercenary named Ali Darassa, the UPC has been campaigning for months to extend its grip in the southeast, at the crossroads of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. The UPC is one of myriad armed groups that have controlled most of the CAR since the country plunged into violence in 2013. A few months away from high-risk presidential elections due in December, the CAR continues to be plagued by militia …

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Three Aid Workers Killed as South Sudan Clashes Leave ‘Many’ Dead

South Sudan’s U.N. peacekeeping mission said Wednesday it was investigating reports that “many people” had died in a surge of intercommunal violence that killed three aid workers and left several missing. Clashes between members of the Murle and Lou Nuer communities broke out over the weekend in the northeastern town of Pieri, where peacekeepers have been interviewing survivors, the U.N. mission said in a statement. “The team is investigating reports that many people were killed, injured and lost their homes,” the statement said, adding that “many” huts were burnt to the ground. “However, it is difficult to verify the number of casualties given conflicting reports and claims,” it said. Moses Majok Gatluak, a member of the Lou Nuer group and former local official in the area, told AFP that 211 people were killed and 300 injured, but that toll could not be independently verified. He said the Murle had attacked Lou Nuer villages. The attack comes after a strike by the Lou Nuer against the Murle earlier this year — part of a decades-old pendulum swing of violence and revenge by the two cattle-rustling communities. The fighting often leaves hundreds dead, with one attack in 2009 killing up to 750, according to the …

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South Sudan rivals Kiir and Machar agree to form unity government by deadline

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar agreed to form a unity government by a February deadline

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UN peacekeepers deploy to stop communal killings in South Sudan

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said it had re-deployed 75 troops to halt a cycle of communal attacks and revenge killings that have left 79 dead

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South Sudan’s Kiir and Machar meet in Uganda ahead of peace deal deadline

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar will hold face-to-face talks as time runs out to form a power-sharing government

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South Sudan rebel leader Machar visits Juba in peace deal push

South Sudan's exiled rebel leader Riek Machar arrived in Juba for the first time in a year to meet President Salva Kiir and try salvage a stalled peace agreement

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Three Ethiopians killed in UN Mi-8 helicopter crash in disputed Abyei

An Ethiopian Mi-8 helicopter crashed in a UN compound in the Abyei region between Sudan and South Sudan, killing three crew members and injuring 10 passengers

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South Sudan armed groups continue to recruit fighters, UN says

All sides in South Sudan's conflict continue to recruit fighters despite a peace deal signed earlier this year, UN rights investigators said

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South Sudan military ‘did what was required’ by obtaining arms from Uganda

New Conflict Armament Research report points to Uganda diverting EU-procured weapons into South Sudan’s civil war

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