Obama: 200 US forces in Uganda to help in South Sudan

“Kenya Airways will avail a larger capacity aircraft, B737-800, to accommodate more guests and clear the backlog that has been occasioned by the airline suspending flights from Sunday, July 10, following an eruption of unrest in the country”, it said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The U.S. troops will be initially stationed in neighbouring Uganda, Obama said in a notice to the U.S. Congress.

Also Friday, dozens of Sudanese women and children arrived in Khartoum from Juba.

“First batch of over three thousand Ugandans have been evacuated from South Sudan and have arrived safely”, Ankunda said.

On Thursday, a heavily armed Ugandan military convoy crossed into South Sudan to evacuate Ugandan citizens in Juba.

The organization said it has received reports from two charter companies that National Security Service officers have ordered them not to carry South Sudanese nationals, particularly men.

The convoy of around 50 Ugandan trucks escorted by machine gun-mounted armoured vehicles crossed the border to open up a secure corridor on the 200-kilometre (120-mile) Juba-Nimule road.

The fighting has threatened a peace deal reached in August to end the civil war between supporters of Kiir and Machar that left tens of thousands dead.

President Barack Obama has notified Congress that about 200 US forces are in Uganda waiting to be sent to South Sudan, if needed.

“We’re more than willing to take on our part of responsibility in restoring calm in South Sudan”, said government spokesman Getachew Reda. The United States forcefully condemned fatal clashes at a United Nations compound sheltering civilians in South Sudan and urged authorities to investigate the incident, which witnesses said involved government troops.

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

The government must be held responsible for the looting and ongoing killing, Betty Sunday, a women’s representative in South Sudan said.

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