Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | The absence of South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar should not delay the implementation of a peace deal, an envoy to the UN Security Council said on Monday. Former vice president and rebel leader Machar is undergoing medical treatment in Khartoum after being chased …
Read More »Security Council urges South Sudan to acccept ‘protection force’
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | The UN Security Council on Saturday urged South Sudan to drop its opposition to the deployment of a regional protection force to beef up a large UN peacekeeping mission in the war-scarred country. Echoing a call made earlier Saturday by South Sudanese religious leaders, …
Read More »UNHCR chief visits Uganda to assess worsening refugee situation
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for refugees has called for greater international attention to the plight of South Sudanese refugees fleeing insecurity to South Sudan’s neighbours. As he concluded his two-day visit to Uganda which was intended to assess the situation on the ground, Grandi appealed Wednesday to the leaders …
Read More »South Sudan court martials 60 soldiers
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Sixty South Sudanese soldiers have been tried before a court martial for alleged crimes committed during last month’s fighting in the capital Juba, the army spokesman said Monday. Brigadier-General Lul Ruai Koang told AFP they include looting, murder, shooting and loitering with at least two …
Read More »Where next for South Sudan and rebel chief Machar?
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | War-torn South Sudan’s slide into chaos resumed last month with fresh fighting in the capital Juba that forced rebel leader turned vice president and peace deal signatory Riek Machar to flee. With the spike in clashes came a surge of abuse of civilians by armed …
Read More »Do more for South Sudan refugees, says a top UN official
Adjumani, Uganda | AFP | The international community must respond to the refugee crisis caused by fighting in South Sudan in the same way it responded to the crisis in Europe, the UN refugee chief said in Uganda on Monday. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says 88,533 people have fled …
Read More »Kerry’s visit, America’s agenda
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd-L) poses with his fellow Foreign Ministers L-R: Kenyan Foreign Secretary Amina Mohamed, Somalia Foreign Minister Abdisalam Omer, South Sudan Foreign Minister Deng Alor Kuol, Sudan Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, and Uganda Foreign Minister Sam Kahamba Kutesa after a meeting and working lunch that …
Read More »Machar discharged from Khartoum hospital: aides
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s former rebel leader Riek Machar has been discharged from hospital in Khartoum after being treated for a swollen leg, his aides told AFP on Friday. Machar was replaced by Taban Deng Gai as South Sudan’s first vice president after hundreds of people died …
Read More »USAID gives $3million for refugees flocking to Uganda
The US Mission to Uganda has announced a donation of $3 million to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in support of refugees in Uganda. The large and sudden influx of South Sudanese refugees—totaling more than 82,000 since July 1, 2016—has strained WFP’s existing resources. Uganda currently hosts more than 620,000 …
Read More »About 243,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | About 243,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan, including tens of thousands in war-torn Darfur, since a civil war erupted in their country in December 2013, the UN said Thursday. South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 but two years later it fell …
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