South Sudan president urges ‘restraint’ after looting in capital

Police fired warning shots on Thursday after protesters pillaged Sudanese-owned shops during a demonstration against the reported deaths of 29 South Sudanese citizens in Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan’s Al-Jazira State. (AFP)
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Updated 17 January 2025
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South Sudan president urges ‘restraint’ after looting in capital

  • South Sudan President Salva Kiir has urged restraint after an anti-Sudanese demonstration in the capital Juba degenerated into looting

JUBA: South Sudan President Salva Kiir has urged restraint after an anti-Sudanese demonstration in the capital Juba degenerated into looting.
Police fired warning shots on Thursday after protesters pillaged Sudanese-owned shops during a demonstration against the reported deaths of 29 South Sudanese citizens in Wad Madani, the capital of Sudan’s Al-Jazira State.
AFP has not been able to independently verify the reported deaths.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
It faces chronic instability, violence and extreme poverty, lately exacerbated by some of the worst flooding in decades and a massive influx of refugees fleeing the war in Sudan.
“We must not allow anger to cloud our judgment, and individuals fleeing violence deserve protection,” Kiir’s office said in a statement late Thursday.
“I call on all of you to exercise restraint and allow the government of South Sudan and Sudan to address this matter.”
Since April 2023, a war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 12 million people and pushed hundreds of thousands into famine.
Both sides have been accused of targeting civilians and indiscriminately shelling residential areas, with the RSF specifically accused of ethnic cleansing, systematic sexual violence and laying siege to entire towns.
The Sudanese army this week retook Wad Madani from the RSF, which controlled the city for over a year.


Israel army issues new evacuation warnings in Lebanon

Updated 8 sec ago
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Israel army issues new evacuation warnings in Lebanon

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon on Tuesday, including a warning for residents in two southern Beirut neighborhoods to stay away from several buildings ahead of imminent military action.
“Urgent warning to the residents of Lebanon, specifically in the villages which names are shown. For your safety you must evacuate your homes immediately,” said a statement by the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on Telegram, which listed 50 locations.
Many of the locations were across the south of Lebanon, which Israel regularly targets with the aim of hitting Hezbollah infrastructure.
“You are located near Hezbollah facilities and interests, against which the IDF will operate in the near future,” he told the residents of southern Beirut neighborhoods Ghobeiry and Haret Hreik in another evacuation warning.
Lebanon’s government on Monday took the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah’s military and security activity, prompting the Iran-backed group to lash out at the decision.
Hezbollah is represented in both the government and parliament, and the move came hours after it announced it had launched rockets and drones toward Israel early Monday to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks.
Israel bombarded Beirut’s southern suburbs and dozens of villages in south Lebanon on Monday in response, vowing to make the group pay a “heavy price.”
The Lebanese health ministry said the strikes killed at least 31 people and wounded at least 149.