South Sudan at risk of civil war - UN warns
- 10 years ago
The United Nations (UN) has condemned a deadly attack in South Sudan that killed two of its peacekeepers and at least 11 civilians.
There is international concern that South Sudan – formed in 2011 when it declared independence from the north – could be on the verge of a civil war.
Gerard Araud, France’s Ambassador to the UN, told reporters: “You have a political crisis and you have a powder keg, which is the ethnic question. So the political crisis could lead to a general political civil war if we don’t solve very quickly the political crisis through dialogue.”
The UN says hundreds of people have been killed since violence erupted last week – when the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir accused his ex-deputy of a failed coup.
Violence erupted between gangs from the Dinkas – the majority group to which President Salva Kiir belongs – and the Nuer ethnic group of his former Vice President Riek Machar.
There is international concern that South Sudan – formed in 2011 when it declared independence from the north – could be on the verge of a civil war.
Gerard Araud, France’s Ambassador to the UN, told reporters: “You have a political crisis and you have a powder keg, which is the ethnic question. So the political crisis could lead to a general political civil war if we don’t solve very quickly the political crisis through dialogue.”
The UN says hundreds of people have been killed since violence erupted last week – when the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir accused his ex-deputy of a failed coup.
Violence erupted between gangs from the Dinkas – the majority group to which President Salva Kiir belongs – and the Nuer ethnic group of his former Vice President Riek Machar.