Category: East Africa

South Sudan will need $1.1 billion of humanitarian aid in 2014 after violence in the past week displaced 62,000 people, the United Nations said. The escalating crisis in South Sudan makes it “crucial that aid agencies get money needed to respond early in the year,” UN Assistant Secretary-General Toby Lanzer said on his Twitter page from Juba, capital of the nation that was split off from Sudan in 2011, becoming independent. The fighting in South Sudan, which broke out on Dec. 15, has already claimed as many as 500 lives, including UN peacekeepers. A rebel force linked to deposed Vice President Riek Machar and led by General James Kong Chol last week captured Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, and said it has taken control of the oil-rich nation. Machar, who is being hunted by security forces, has called for President Salva Kiir to step down for failing to […]

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The acting governor of oil-rich Unity state in South Sudan said at least 16 people were killed during clashes there between oil workers and rival tribes. Acting Unity state Gov. Mabaek Lang De Mading said hundreds of people have fled the area to U.N. safe havens and more than a dozen were killed after clashes erupted in the oil-rich state, the independent Sudan Tribune reports. The Sudanese newspaper said oil workers used spears, knives and sticks during the melee with tribal groups. Conflict erupted in South Sudan this week when Salva Kiir, the country’s president, accused former Vice President Riek Machar of staging a coup. South Sudan is the world’s newest nation. When it gained independence from Sudan in 2011, the landlocked country gained control over much of the oil producing regions but Sudan maintained its grip on export infrastructure. Chinese government […]

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Two United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an assault on their base in South Sudan along with 20 civilians who were sheltering there. They were the first U.N. casualties in a week of violence that has spread from the capital to energy-producing regions, spurring Beijing to move to evacuate some Chinese oil workers. What began Sunday night as a clash between army factions has spiraled into nationwide ethnic fighting that threatens to chase away foreign oil companies and choke the lifeblood of the fledgling nation’s economy. Some 500 people have been killed and more than 30,000 forced from their homes. Many civilians, including hundreds of oil workers, have sought shelter in bases belonging to the U.N. peacekeeping mission, which has reported fighting in six of the country’s 10 states. The U.N. said Friday that its base in the town of Akobo, in Jonglei state, had been attacked overnight "by […]

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The United Nations provided sobering details on Friday of an assault on a peacekeeping base in South Sudan that underscored the organization’s fragile ability to protect civilians in the country, where sectarian mayhem has escalated in recent days. Two thousand armed youths of Nuer ethnicity overran the facility the previous day, killing at least 11 ethnic Dinka civilians seeking refuge and two Indian peacekeepers who had tried to protect them, the United Nations said. The assault on the base in the town of Akobo in Jonglei State on Thursday was among a number of alarming developments that have increased the fear of an impending civil war in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, where ethnic hatreds, initially obscured after independence from Sudan two years ago, have been reaggravated and inflamed. Between 35,000 and 40,000 civilians have taken refuge in at least three other United Nations peacekeeping bases in the […]

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The U.N. says 34,000 people in South Sudan are seeking refuge at U.N. bases in three locations across the country. The U.N.’s humanitarian arm said Friday that 20,000 people are seeking shelter in the capital, Juba, while 14,000 are seeking shelter in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, the scene of heavy violence this week. Several hundred people are seeking shelter in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, where South Sudan’s oil fields are concentrated. The U.S. Embassy was flying out a fifth emergency evacuation flight on Friday. A German plane was also scheduled to fly out. Violence broke out among South Sudan’s presidential guard late Sunday night. Fighting spread across the country over the next several days, leading to fears of a civil war between ethnic groups. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be […]

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The United Nations said on Friday it had sent helicopters to rescue personnel from a base in South Sudan that came under lethal attack as a political crisis worsened significantly and President Obama warned that the world’s youngest country “stands at the precipice.” The number of civilians seeking refuge in the United Nations’ other facilities there exceeded 30,000 and diplomats expressed fears about the potential for a civil war. Britain, which began evacuating its nationals on Thursday, said Friday that it would send a second airplane to Juba, the capital. “We strongly advise all British nationals in South Sudan to leave the country if they can do so safely,” the Foreign Office said, adding that it might become more difficult to escape if the situation worsened further. The United States suspended operations at its embassy in Juba this week and offered similar advice to Americans. On its […]

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In a sign of mounting international concern about fighting in South Sudan, Britain said on Thursday that it had dispatched an airplane to evacuate British nationals as clashes were reported to have spread following claims of an attempted coup. The Foreign Office said that around 150 of the estimated 500 Britons in the newly created country had been in touch with British officials, many of them wanting to leave the country. The developments came a day after the South Sudanese Army said that it had lost control of a town in the north of the country. South Sudan declared its independence in July 2011, after years of struggle to break away from the Arab-dominated north of Sudan. But in the past few days, President Salva Kiir has accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of attempting to overthrow him — a charge Mr. Machar denied on Wednesday. […]

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Displaced Sudanese civilians arrive at the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) compound on the outskirts of the capital Juba in South Sudan 19 December 2013 Last updated at 08:22 Thousands of people are seeking refuge from the fighting in UN compounds South Sudanese rebels have taken over a key town, the military has said, as fighting continues after Sunday’s reported coup attempt. "Our soldiers have lost control of Bor to the force of Riek Machar," said army spokesman Philip Aguer. President Salva Kiir has accused Mr Machar, the former vice-president, of staging a coup – a claim he denies. The unrest, which began in the capital Juba, has already killed 500 people and sparked fears of a civil war. The United Nations has called for political dialogue to end the crisis, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said about 20,000 people had taken refuge in […]

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Displaced Sudanese civilians arrive at the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) compound on the outskirts of the capital Juba in South Sudan 19 December 2013 Last updated at 08:22 Thousands of people are seeking refuge from the fighting in UN compounds South Sudanese rebels have taken over a key town, the military has said, as fighting continues after Sunday’s reported coup attempt. "Our soldiers have lost control of Bor to the force of Riek Machar," said army spokesman Philip Aguer. President Salva Kiir has accused Mr Machar, the former vice-president, of staging a coup – a claim he denies. The unrest, which began in the capital Juba, has already killed 500 people and sparked fears of a civil war. The United Nations has called for political dialogue to end the crisis, and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said about 20,000 people had taken refuge in […]

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