(Photo: Cisanewsafrica.com)
Deborah Bloom of CNN Africa is reporting 60,000 people, mostly women and children, are fleeing South Sudan into neighboring countries to escape violence. Reportedly 111 people were killed over the weekend in clashes outside of Juba. Bloom writes:
“Violence in South Sudan over the past three weeks has prompted a massive flight of refugees into neighboring countries, according to the United Nations. More than 60,000 people, most of whom are women and children, have fled the country since fighting began at the end of June, the U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR reported on Tuesday.
‘The refugees have brought to us very disturbing reports,’ UNHCR Spokesman Melissa Fleming said at a briefing in Geneva. Armed groups ‘are looting villages, murdering civilians, and forcibly recruiting young men and boys into their ranks,’ Fleming said. ‘We are very concerned, and are appealing for parties to move back to the peace agreement.’
Despite a peace deal brokered on July 11, clashes between forces loyal to the country’s President Salva Kiir and those allied with former Vice President Riek Machar seem to be ongoing.”
Read more at CNN Africa.
