South Sudan cease-fire faltering into conflict: UN

By Parach Mach

JUBA, South Sudan

Rather than true efforts by the warring parties in South Sudan to adhere to the cease-fire there, instead the conflict has been growing worse, according to the head of the UN mission in the country, UNMISS.

“Virtually no part of the country is immune from conflict. Yet, there has been no concerted effort by any party to adhere to a cease-fire. Instead, we are seeing an intensification of the conflict over the past month,” David Shearer, also the UN special envoy to South Sudan, told the 15-member UN Security Council in New York Tuesday.

Shearer said in a statement that in some of the violence, government forces have responded to attacks by opposition forces, notably in Wau and the Equatorias. In others, in contrast, government-led operations such as those in Upper Nile and Jonglei appeared “more strategic in focus” and were aimed at taking opposition-held areas.

The mission head added that “significant military operations are linked to gaining tactical advantage over opposition positions before the onset of the rainy season”.

The conflict in South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, began in December 2013 and has led to a humanitarian crisis. Some 7.5 million people, two-thirds of the population, require humanitarian assistance.

Around 1.6 million people have fled the country as refugees, while a further 1.9 million are displaced internally.