ADDIS ABABA
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has condemned a fresh bout of deadly violence in South Sudan and the "deliberate targeting" of civilians in the cities of Bentiu and Bor, where at least 240 people were killed last week.
"These incidents constitute a grave violation of the commitment by the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A in Opposition) to the cessation of hostilities agreement signed on 23 January, 2014 under the auspices of the IGAD-led mediation process," IGAD, an East Africa trade bloc, said in a statement.
Such violations, the bloc added, "can only serve to undermine the ongoing peace process."
IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub Maalim "also strongly condemns the deliberate targeting of civilians in the conflict as evidenced during the recent fighting in Bentiu (Unity State), as well as the April 17 attack on the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in Bor," the organization noted.
"These recent incidents are particularly alarming as they involved a deliberate targeting of civilians in massacre proportions, including the killing of 200 civilians and the injury of over 400 in a single incident in a mosque in Bentiu on April 15, 2014," it added.
IGAD went on: "The 17 April attack on unarmed civilians in the UNMISS compound in Bor has also resulted in over 40 deaths and injury to more than 70."
According to UNMISS officials, the killings in Bentiu occurred between April 15 and 16 after rebels loyal to sacked vice-president Riek Machar had captured the town from government forces.
Rebel spokesman James Gatdet Dak, however, dismissed claims that his forces had been involved in the violence.
South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when President Salva Kiir accused Machar of trying to overthrow his regime.
The conflict has already claimed more than 10,000 lives, with the U.N. estimating that some one million South Sudanese have been displaced by the violence.
"The effects of the five-month-long violent conflict in South Sudan have already proved catastrophic, with thousands of lives lost and over a million people displaced," Maalim said in the IGAD statement.
"The conflict has also seriously disrupted economic activity and food production, with imminent risk of serious famine," he added. "In this respect, the executive secretary calls on the international community to act now to put pressure on both parties to stop the war and prevent a deeper catastrophe from unfolding in South Sudan."
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