UN Security Council Demands ‘Immediate End’ To Sudan Clashes
MEP: The United Nations Security Council has called on ‘immediate end’ to South Sudan deadly clashes that engulfed the capital, Juba, in recent days.
The battles are the first between the army and ex-rebels in Juba since rebel leader Riek Machar returned in April to take up the post of vice president under wartime enemy President Salva Kiir, following the three-year conflict that has killed thousands and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
The UN Council on Sunday joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has demanded for an end to the fighting, while separately urging that President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President Reik Machar do their utmost to control their respective forces.
276 people, mostly soldiers, have been reportedly killed in clashes between armed groups since Thursday, raising fears of a slide back into all-out conflict in the five-year-old country.
Reading out portions of a statement to the press following a three-hour closed-door emergency session, Ambassador Koro Bessho of Japan, which holds the Council’s presidency for the month, said the body’s 15 members had expressed particular shock and outrage at the attacks on UN compounds and protection of civilians sites in Juba.
“The members of the Council condemned in the strongest terms all attacks and provocations against civilians and the United Nations. They emphasized the need for United Nations [civilian protection] sites and United Nations personnel to remain secure,” said the Council President, expressing sympathies and condolences to the families of Chinese and Rwandan peacekeepers who were killed or injured in the attacks.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department has ordered the departure of all its non-emergency personnel from the U.S. embassy in Juba and has also warned U.S. citizens against traveling to South Sudan because of the ongoing fighting.
