UN warns of humanitarian impact of fighting in southern Sudan

Calling on all groups to stop attacking civilians, the United Nations humanitarian office for Sudan has expressed concern about the impact of militia attacks and fighting between Government forces and rebel groups in the Upper Nile region of southern Sudan.

In a press statement released yesterday, the Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan said more than 50,000 people have been internally displaced since early last month in the Shilluk kingdom area, which is in the northern section of the Upper Nile region.

There have been reports of rapes and looting, the Office reported, while villages have also been burnt down, destroying schools and clinics in the process.

The UN urged all armed groups to protect the lives, human rights and property of civilians, and said all attacks against civilians must stop.

The Sudanese Government and rebel groups, including the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) have been waging civil war in the country’s south for nearly two decades. There have also been militia attacks recently. Peace talks to resolve the conflict in southern Sudan are taking place in Naivasha, Kenya.

The conflict is separate to the fighting that has broken out in the Darfur region, in Sudan’s west, since early last year. In Darfur, about 750,000 people are internally displaced and another 110,000 refugees have fled to Chad because of the war there between the Sudanese Government, allied militia groups and rebel forces.

UN agencies say they are having difficulty reaching many of the displaced civilians in the Shilluk kingdom area as they have had to suspend operations several times this year because of continuing insecurity. But relief is being brought to the estimated 13,000 civilians who have fled to the government-held town of Malakal.