The US said Thursday it was ready to help people in a South Sudanese state caught in the crossfire between troops and ethnic militias, adding it was “deeply disturbed” by reports of rights abuses.
Aid workers and diplomats have warned that renewed fighting has flared in an area of eastern Jonglei state where a former theology scholar, turned insurgent, David Yau Yau, is leading a bloody insurgency.
Yau Yau, who is allied with the Murle ethnic people and who broke away from Sudan People’s Liberation Army in 2012, is also engaged in fighting tribal militia forces from the Lou Nuer and Dinka tribes.
“We are deeply disturbed by mounting reports of abuse of civilians, including targeted killings, rape, beatings, and the looting and destruction of homes and humanitarian facilities, in Jonglei State,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
“We urge all parties — including the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and other state and non-state armed actors — to end the violence, and to work toward peace and reconciliation,” she said in a statement sent to AFP.
In May 2012, all sides signed an agreement at the Jonglei Peace Conference, but clashes erupted again in August between Yau Yau’s militia and the SPLA.
The state — the largest in South Sudan — has been plagued by inter-tribe conflicts for decades, but civilian casualties have increased. Disputes have flared over cattle-raiding, while the Murle are also angered by moves to disarm the civilian population of the world’s newest nation.
South Sudan split from Sudan on July 9, 2011, after its people voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum six months earlier, part of a 2005 peace deal that ended one of Africa’s longest civil wars.
“The hit-and-run attacks of an armed group in the strife-torn state of Jonglei have defied government efforts to stabilize the largest state in the country,” UNMISS head Hilde Johnson wrote in an op-ed this week.
Psaki said South Sudanese leaders must “ensure the safety and security of all civilians” and hold accountable those “responsible for the violence and who have committed abuses — including members of the security forces.”
She also called for the UNMISS (UN Mission in South Sudan) and aid workers to be given “unfettered humanitarian access to Jonglei… to provide assistance and protection to all affected populations, and to enable all wounded to access medical care.”
“We are prepared to support humanitarian assistance to all affected populations across Jonglei State, and to increase development alongside improvements in security,” Psaki added.
All sides must also support the commitments of the Jonglei peace deal for “peace, reconciliation and tolerance.”
US concern over fighting in South Sudan state
