JUBA – 12 Jul 2017
About 5,000 civilians have been forced to seek refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia due to escalating clashes near Pagak in Upper Nile, the headquarters of the opposition group led by former first vice president Riek Machar, a top UN official said.
David Shearer, head of the UN mission in South Sudan, told reporters Wednesday in Juba that the SPLA advance on the opposition headquarters in Pagak area will not serve the interest of peace in the world’s youngest nation.
“The situation is Pagak is worrying because of the fighting that is going on. The fighting is displacing people and a number of people have withdrawn from Mathiang down to Pagak to seek safely,” he said.
He pointed out the civilians who are living in Pagak area may cross the border to Ethiopia due to insecurity. “The hostilities should cease to allow people to go back to their homes. There is no reason for fighting in that area,” he said.
The civil war in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 3.5 million people, many of them to neighbouring countries.
