UN: Conditions in South Sudan worsen after ceasfire deal violations
by Joseph
Earnest September 21, 2015
Newscast Media JUBA—Conditions in war-torn South Sudan have worsened with thousands fleeing
fighting since a ceasefire deal three weeks ago, the United Nations has
warned.
In the northern battleground state of Unity, thousands of
civilians are trekking through the vast Sudd swamplands to reach the
village of Nyal, away from fighting.
"About 10 canoes, each
carrying 60 to 70 people, have arrived in Nyal on a daily basis since
mid-August," the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) said in its latest report.
At least 18,000 people have
arrived in Nyal in the past two weeks, taking the total there to more
than 78,000 civilians, the report added.
In the capital Juba, the
UN warned of a "deteriorating security situation", where an aid worker
was murdered in a "brutal attack" on September 10, taking the total
killed since the war began to 34.
Some 1.64 million people have
fled fighting inside the country, another 628,000 have fled as refugees
into neighboring nations, while over 4.6 million people are now
dependent on food aid.
The army and rebels have repeatedly traded
blame accusing each other of breaking an August 29 ceasefire deal, the
eighth such agreement to have been signed since civil war broke out in
December 2013.
"Malnutrition remains a major concern across the country," the UN report added.
The
world's youngest nation, South Sudan descended into bloodshed in
December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek
Machar of planning a coup.
The violence has left tens of thousands of people dead and the impoverished country split along ethnic lines. Add
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