'Many killed' as fresh conflict in S.Sudan displaces 180,000

JUBA - Renewed fighting in South Sudan has displaced more than 180,000 people, with witnesses describing indiscriminate use of barrel bombs and civilians fleeing into swamps as the country's fragile peace unravels.

The world's youngest country has been beset by war, poverty and massive corruption since it was formed in 2011, but violence is once again on the rise between rival factions, currently focused on Jonglei state north of the capital Juba.

"I am stuck and if worse comes, the only safe place for me to go is the swamps," said Daniel Deng, 35, one of thousands displaced by fighting in Jonglei, speaking to AFP by phone.

He described heavy fighting last week in Duk county where he lives, after opposition forces took control only to be driven out by government troops.

"Many people were killed," said Deng, estimating the number at around 300 fighters, which could not be verified by AFP.

A power-sharing agreement between the two main factions is all but dead after President Salva Kiir moved against his vice-president and long-time rival, Riek Machar, who was arrested last March and is now on trial for "crimes against humanity".

Their forces have fought several times over the past year, but the most sustained clashes began in late December in Jonglei.

South Sudanese authorities estimate the number of displaced at more than 180,000 across four counties of Jonglei, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said this week.

"Most people are settling under trees. Their homes and health facilities have been looted or burned and there is a lot of hunger," said Deng.

'ÍNDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS'

Kiir and Machar fought a five-year war shortly after independence that claimed 400,000 lives. A 2018 power-sharing deal kept the peace for some years, but plans to hold elections and merge their armies did not materialise.

The fighting in Jonglei began in December in an area called Piri, said an NGO source in Juba, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said the government responded with "indiscriminate" air attacks, including the use of barrel bombs on civilians. It considers the local population "hostile" and has ordered them to leave areas under opposition control, he said.

Another NGO source said barrel bombs had landed within 100-200 metres of health facilities.

"There have been different kinds of threats coming from both sides," the source said.

Many have fled to the state capital, Bor.

Much of Jonglei has been "designated as red zones meaning no humanitarian access, no flights... People continue to flee and the number in Bor keeps on increasing day and night," a local civil society leader, Bol Deng Bol, said by phone.

"We are seeing mobilisation and build-up of military from both sides, a sign that escalation is imminent," he added.

Estimating the death toll is impossible, he said, because many locals were still hiding "in the bush".

"Looting and confiscation of humanitarian assets, reportedly by both parties, have forced the suspension of essential health services for thousands," the UN's OCHA said in a situation report.

'KIDS WILL DIE'

South Sudan has major oil reserves, but vast corruption has left it among the poorest countries in the world, with nearly 7.7 million of its estimated 12 million citizens in a state of hunger, according to World Food Programme figures last April.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has struggled to supply teams on the ground in Jonglei, leading to "catastrophic" shortages, said operations manager Gul Badshah, based in Nairobi.

"We don't have the supplies... Kids will die, it's as simple as that," he said.

Clashes have also been reported in the Upper Nile and Central Equatoria states in recent months.

Senior opposition leader Wisley Welebe Samsona called Monday for a march on Juba to "remove the anti-peace regime".

"What we are witnessing in Jonglei is not an isolated security incident; it is a dangerous escalation which is manifesting in other parts of the country as well," said Barney Afako, a member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, in a statement.

"The actions in Jonglei could put the country into another dangerous spiral of violence," he warned.