GENEVA: The United Nations said Friday it was "deeply concerned" by clashes between South Sudan's military and opposition forces in a southern state, where displaced civilians told AFP they had been left without food.
The world's youngest nation, which is deeply impoverished, has long been troubled by insecurity and instability.
But recent fighting between factions allied to President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival Vice-President Riek Machar have sparked worries of renewed war.
International observers fear a return to the five-year civil war that cost some 400,000 lives and was ended by a 2018 peace deal which brought the two together in a unity government, but which appears to be unravelling.
Clashes between the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) in neighbouring Morobo and Yei counties in Central Equatoria State "have led to civilian displacement and casualties", the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said.
The state includes the capital, Juba, and under the 2018 agreement was split into areas controlled by government and opposition forces.
Pro-Machar forces denounced government attacks on a military cantonment in the area earlier this week, urging civilians to leave. The army did not comment.
The UN did not give further details of the clashes, but urged an "immediate cessation of hostilities", especially given the "already fragile political and security conditions".
Morobo County Commissioner Charles Data Bullen said the situation in the area "remains volatile".
Margret Ileli, 28, said she heard gunshots nearby on Tuesday afternoon "and we started running leaving everything behind".
She was now sheltering in Morobo town but told AFP: "I am confused and I don't know what to do next."
Charles Likambo, 30, was also displaced with his family of five, telling AFP he was forced to abandon his crops and goats.
"Me and my family have not received any food assistance, and my children keep on crying because they are hungry," he said, urging humanitarian organisations to help.
UN voices concern over latest South Sudan clashes as civilians flee
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UN voices concern over latest South Sudan clashes as civilians flee
- The United Nations agency warns that it may have to reduce the number of people it can help across the country, from May, if more funding does not come through from donors
Sweden to charge jihadist over Jordanian pilot burnt to death in Syria: prosecutor
STOCKHOLM: Prosecutors said Thursday they plan to indict a convicted Swedish jihadist for his suspected involvement in the 2014 capture of a Jordanian pilot in Syria and burning him to death in a cage.
Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said in a statement it planned to charge a 32-year-old Swedish citizen on May 27 with “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria.”
The man, Osama Krayem, has already been sentenced for his involvement in the 2015 attacks in Paris and the attacks in Brussels a year later.
Summer comes early for Iraq with 49 degrees Celsius in Basra
- In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August
BAGHDAD: Summer has come early for Iraq this year with temperatures hitting 49 degrees Celsius (topping 120 degrees Fahrenheit) in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, the national weather center said.
“It is the highest temperature recorded in Iraq this year,” weather center spokesperson Amer Al-Jabiri told AFP.
He said the early heat was in contrast to last year, when the temperature was “relatively good” in May and “it only began to rise in June.”
In Iraq, summer temperatures often exceed 50 degrees Celsius, especially in July and August, and sometimes reach these levels earlier.
On Sunday, two cadets died and others were admitted to hospital with heat stroke at a military academy in the southern province of Dhi Qar, authorities said.
The defense ministry said nine cadets “showed signs of fatigue and exhaustion due to sun exposure” while waiting to be assigned to battalions.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani ordered an investigation into the deaths of the two cadets.
Iraq is one of the five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change, according to the United Nations. It has also seen a prolonged drought and frequent dust storms.
Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
- The army told residents that it was operating with intense force
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighborhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.
The army told residents in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organizations continue their activities and operations” there.
A similar warning for parts of northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.
It said that one “projectile that was identified crossing into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip was intercepted” by the air force.
It later announced three more launches from northern Gaza, but said the projectiles had fallen inside the Palestinian territory.
Israel has ramped up its Gaza operations in recent days in what it says is a renewed push to destroy Hamas.
The territory’s civil defense agency said Israeli attacks had killed at least 19 people on Thursday.
Turkiye’s Erdogan says Damascus must keep focused on Kurdish SDF deal
- Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Syria’s government must keep focused on its deal with the Kurdish, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under which it is to integrate into the Syrian armed forces, pressing Damascus for its implementation.
Speaking to reporters on a flight from Budapest, he said Turkiye, Syria, Iraq and the United States had a committee to discuss the fate of Daesh militants in prison camps in northeast Syria, which have been run by the SDF for years.
Ankara views the SDF and its factions as a terrorist group.
“We are especially following the YPG issue very, very closely. It is important for the Damascus administration not to take its attention away from this issue,” his office on Thursday cited him as saying. The YPG militia spearheads the SDF.
He added that Iraq should focus on the issue of the camps, as most women and children at the Al-Hol camp there were from Iraq and Syria, and that Iraq should repatriate its nationals.
Israel intercepts two missiles launched from Yemen, military says
- Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile toward Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and two drones toward the Tel Aviv area
Israel’s military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen and that sirens had sounded twice across the country including in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Thursday, as the Houthis stepped up attacks.
Houthi Military Spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile toward Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and two drones toward the Tel Aviv area.
Undeterred by Israeli strikes on Yemen, the Houthis said they would continue to fire at Israel even though they have agreed to a ceasefire with the United States to halt attacks on US ships in the Red Sea.
Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa, and another last week targeting the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif.
Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, most of which have been intercepted or have fallen short.
The group says it is acting in support of Gaza’s Palestinians.
