December 15, 2024 14:07 (IST)

Make this your homepage

Foreign

Kolkata woman strangled, beheaded and chopped into pieces for refusing brother-in-law's advances | Arvind Kejriwal, CM Atishi to contest Delhi polls from current constituencies | Atul Subhash suicide case: Wife Nikita, her mother and brother arrested | Pushpa 2 stampede: Allu Arjun walks out of jail, actor's lawyer slams delay in release | Donald Trump intends to end 'inconvenient' and 'very costly' Daylight Saving Time | Suchir Balaji: Indian-origin former OpenAI researcher found dead at US apartment | Bengaluru techie suicide: Karnataka Police issues summons to wife Nikita, her family members | French President Macron appoints centrist leader Francois Bayrou as new Prime Minister | Congress always prioritised personal interest over Constitution: Rajnath Singh | Jaishankar calls attack on Hindus in Bangladesh 'a source of concern'

Photo: UNMISS/Mihad Abdalla

South Sudan: UN reports fighters restricting movement

India Blooms News Service | | May 02, 2014, at 05:30 pm

#South Sudan # United nations # opposition forces # Harassment # detention of UN staff

New York, May 2 (IBNS): United Nations peacekeepers in South Sudan reported on Thursday that opposition forces are occupying Lich University, located in the central part of the country, and that said harassment and detention of UN staff was preventing the Mission from carrying out its activities.

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) “has raised this issue with opposition authorities, reminding them that the use of educational institutions for military purposes is a violation of international humanitarian law,” a UN spokesperson confirmed to journalists in New York.

He added that peacekeepers also continued to report violations to the UN status of forces agreement (SOFA) with South Sudan in the form of harassment and detention, as well as restrictions on movement in various parts of the country.

“The Mission calls on all parties to respect the lifesaving work of the United Nations,” the spokesperson noted.

Meanwhile, in Bor, Jonglei state, UNMISS reported on Wednesday that firing in the vicinity of its compound, apparently a case of friendly fire between the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and Auxiliary Police.

As a result of the firing, some internally displaced persons fled into the adjoining UNMISS Compound. The Mission is currently protecting some 4,800 displaced persons at that base.

“UN peacekeepers calmed the situation, and also provided medical treatment to one displaced person who was wounded in the crossfire,” the spokesperson said.

There were also reports of fighting on Wednesday between Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and Opposition forces in Panyagor and Wanyar Payam, also in Jonglei State.

Over the past two months, thousands of people are believed to have been killed by fighting that began in mid-December 2013 as a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy president, Riek Machar.

Visiting the country earlier this week, High Commissioner for Human Righs Navi Pillay and Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng warned that South Sudan is on the verge of catastrophe, and urged the two leaders to relinquish their “personal power struggle” and steer their impoverished, war-battered country towards stability.

Pillay and Dieng are expected to brief the Security Council on their visit.

(A makeshift primary school for students at the UNMISS displaced persons camp in Bor, Jonglei state, South Sudan. Photo: UNMISS/Mihad Abdalla)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.