Nairobi: The United Nations on Tuesday reported deadly clashes in northern South Sudan which killed civilians and left a peacekeeper wounded.
The oil-rich but impoverished nation, which only achieved independence in 2011, is plagued by instability with frequent clashes and political infighting.
Fighting broke out between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and “armed youth” in Nassir in Upper Nile state — which borders Sudan — on February 14 and 15, the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said in a statement.
It did not identify the armed groups clashing with the SSPDF, a national military force led by President Salva Kiir, head of the country’s unity government.
The statement said some fighters used “heavy weaponry which has, reportedly, resulted in deaths and injuries to civilians as well as armed personnel.”
It did not give any details on the number of people hurt, but added that a UN peacekeeper on a scheduled patrol was wounded during mortar shelling.
Nicholas Haysom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS, urged restraint and condemned violence toward the UN peacekeepers.
The UN statement also warned of “persistent tensions” in Western Equatoria — on the other side of the country — between “organized forces.” It did not give details.
Haysom said that the situation in both locations underscored the need for the full deployment of South Sudan’s unified armed forces.
The country endured a vicious five-year civil war between Kiir and his bitter rival, Vice President Riek Machar.
A 2018 peace deal required the unification of armed forces, ahead of repeatedly delayed elections.
UNMISS has said the unification of the army has yet to be achieved.
UN peacekeepers report deadly clashes in South Sudan
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UN peacekeepers report deadly clashes in South Sudan
- Fighting broke out between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and “armed youth” in Nassir in Upper Nile state
Thousands stage pro-Gaza rally in Istanbul
- Thousands joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory
ISTANBUL: Thousands joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to the violence in the tiny war-torn territory.
Demonstrators gathered in freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city’s Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine,” an AFP reporter at the scene said.
More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Police sources and Anadolou state news agency said some 500,000 people had joined the march at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song “Free Palestine.”
“We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians,” said Erdogan, who chairs the board of the Ilim Yayma Foundation, an educational charity that was one of the organizers of the march.
Turkiye has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza and helped broker a recent ceasefire that halted the deadly war waged by Israel in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.
But the fragile October 10 ceasefire has not stopped the violence with more than more than 400 Palestinians killed since it took hold.
