Ethiopia suggests military intervention in South Sudan

Uganda is willing to redeploy troops in South Sudan as part of a regional force, after recent clashes in the oil-producing nation killed hundreds of people and raised the prospect of a return to all-out civil war, Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said.

The body set up to oversee a peace deal signed last August between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar – the former vice president who has now been restored to his role in a unity government – has made a similar suggestion.

The July 8-11 violence had left “42,000 internally displaced” in the world’s youngest nation, said William Spindler, the spokesman for the UN refugee agency.

Some soldiers have returned to South Sudan this week to help evacuate about 5,000 Ugandan nationals, Kutesa said.

“We hope and expect the South Sudanese to bury the hatchet”, he said, but added, “If push comes to shove, we’ll have to carry the burden through strengthening the troop numbers”.

AFP reports that South Sudanese security forces are preventing people from leaving the East African nation, Amnesty International said.

As was the case at the beginning of the conflict, the warring parties are still South Sudan’s most prominent ethnic groups: the Dinka, led by President Kiir, and the Nuer, under Vice-President Machar.

Foreigners from India, the United States, Britain and other European countries are among those who have already fled the turmoil.

The United States military in Africa has deployed 47 troops described by President Barack Obama as “equipped for combat” to protect American personnel and facilities in Juba, the capital of civil-war-ravaged South Sudan, the White House and U.S. Africa Command have announced.

“The U.S. Embassy in Juba said flights will be organized for all U.S. citizens wishing to leave South Sudan”, reports AP. “The mission reports that its peacekeepers continue to undertake limited patrols as well as strengthening security at the outer perimeter of the protection of civilian sites”.

Fighting between rival South Sudanese troops began a week ago in the capital Juba.

“The reports include allegations of the killing of at least one South Sudanese national working for an global NGO, as well as rapes, including of worldwide NGO staff”. “The embassy is also evacuating non-essential staff”.

“Humanitarian access to affected people has improved dramatically since Monday”.

Ann Encontre, a United Nations refugee coordinator in South Sudan, said on Friday there was concern about fresh outflows of refugees following clashes in the capital Juba, and appealed for $701 million in relief aid.

The conflict has been characterised by horrific rights abuses, including gang rapes, the wholesale burning of villages and cannibalism.