Over a Dozen Killed in South Sudan Clashes

South Sudanese soldiers and rebels have clashed in a state bordering Sudan, killing at least 15 people. The army said that it moved in after spotting rebels loyal to former vice president Riek Machar trying to steal cattle in the small village of Adaab el Bahr, in Unity State. The rebels then caught them in an ambush, which carried on for just short of an hour.

A spokesman for the Machar-allied SPLA-In-Opposition said that his forces killed 20 soldiers – higher than the government estimate of 15- and another 23 in a fight in Tore, in Central Equatoria state, on the same day.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to the UN said on Thursday that the United States will be presenting a draft Security Council resolution in the coming days, which would impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on South Sudan.

Read more here.

Religious Leaders of South Sudan Meet With Pope

Church leaders from South Sudan have asked Pope Francis to make a joint peace mission to the war-torn country. Leaders met with Francis at the Vatican and invited him to visit the country to bring the message of peace and brotherly love directly to the people and the quarreling members of the government and political parties. South Sudan Christian leaders said they are certain that by working together, they can convince their people that dialogue, reconciliation and cooperation are the only paths to the peace and prosperity the South Sudanese have struggled so long to obtain.

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The Worst Place on Earth: Death and Life in the Lost Town of Leer

In South Sudan, soldiers get away with murder, while skulls tell truths that the living are afraid to utter. It’s a land that has experienced Syrian-level death counts with almost no attention whatsoever from the rest of the world.  It’s a killing field, a place where human remains lie unburied, whose residents have long since fled, while its few remaining inhabitants are mostly refugees from similarly ravaged villages.

This has been the story of South Sudan’s civil war: few pitched battles between armies, many attacks on civilians by armed men.  Often, it’s unclear just who is attacking.  Civilians hear gunfire and they begin to run.  If they’re lucky they get away with their lives, and often little else.

Read more here.

100,000 Fearful Civilians Trapped in South Sudan Town

The United Nations says 100,000 people were trapped and facing an increasingly dire situation in the besieged South Sudanese town of Yei after fleeing violence that included killings and mutilations. More than 30,000 people have fled into Yei, southwest of the capital, Juba following deadly attacks on civilians and looting of property. They joined several thousand displaced people who had arrived since mid-July, and as many as 60,000 town residents, the United Nations refugee agency said. South Sudan has been consumed by violence that began in late 2013 and has left tens of thousands of people dead and forced millions from their homes.

http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/9/57ee684f4/100000-fearful-civilians-trapped-south-sudan-town.html

South Sudan Road Ambush Kills 21 Civilians

A road ambush blamed on South Sudanese rebels killed 21 civilians, says the government. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said it received reports of horrific violence being carried out against civilians in Central Equatorial State and urged both rebel and government commanders to control their forces and cease hostilities. An official says nearly two dozen civilians were killed, some were burned to death, and twenty others were wounded.

Read the full Reuters article.

UN Peacekeepers Fled, Used Tear Gas on South Sudan Civilians

A new report says United Nations peacekeepers fled their posts when fighting erupted in South Sudan’s capital in July, then used tear gas on frightened civilians who sought shelter within the U.N. base. The report states some peacekeepers refused orders to protect civilians during the chaos in Juba, and refused to respond to pleas for help as government soldiers looted and raped aid workers at a nearby Terrain compound. This reports adds to a growing list of incidents where peacekeepers have been accused of failing to carry out their mandate in South Sudan.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/peacekeepers-fled-tear-gas-south-sudan-civilians-42595085

A Portrait of Turmoil in South Sudan, from Behind the Lens

South Sudan, the world’s newest country, is again on the brink of a civil war. Currently, 250,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition, tuberculosis, and malaria. Due to renewed fighting, more children soldiers are being recruited and coerced into joining armed groups. As a result of the ongoing war and troubles, most infrastructures have been stripped, leaving half the children in South Sudan without a school to receive proper education. This video gives you an inside look of the turmoil and the toll it has taken on civilians, specifically children, shows how the humanitarian crisis is worsening by the day: