US, UN Warn of Intensified Violence in South Sudan
By VOA News November 30, 2016
United States and United Nations representatives warned in separate meetings Wednesday of escalated tension and potential violence in South Sudan.
"We have credible information that the South Sudanese government is currently targeting civilians in Central Equatoria and preparing for large-scale attacks in the coming days or weeks," Keith Harper, the U.S. representative at the U.N. Human Rights Council, said in Geneva.
The claim was quickly rejected by his South Sudanese counterpart, and South Sudan ambassador Kuol Alor Kuol Arop denied any build-up of forces or plans for an offensive in an interview with the Associated Press.
In Juba on Wednesday, U.N. human rights experts warned of "unprecedented" levels of violence and ethnic tension across the war-torn country.
"Many expect intensified fighting now that the dry season is setting in," said Yasmin Sooka of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, following a fact-finding mission.
A group of international monitors were blocked by the government from traveling to Central Equatoria to investigate violations of the country's peace deal earlier this week, AP reported.
Earlier this month, Adama Dieng, the U.N. secretary-general's adviser on the prevention of genocide warned of the risk of "outright ethnic war" and the "potential for genocide" in Central Equatoria and the Yei region.
The conflict in South Sudan began nearly three years ago when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy and political rival Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
Since then, fighting largely along ethnic lines has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million.
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