South Sudan: Tens of thousands flee, reporting mass killings, recruitment of child soldiers, UN says
Tens of thousands of people have fled a fresh outbreak of violence in South Sudan, reporting mass killings, looting and forced recruitment of child soldiers, UN agencies say.
Many of the refugees pouring into neighbouring Uganda, Kenya and Sudan have been carrying malnourished children, the refugee agency the UNHCR added, the victims of a humanitarian crisis exacerbated by food shortages and a cholera outbreak.
UN agencies said refugees had reported gunmen trying to block their flight and harassing them on the way.
“Armed groups operating across different parts of South Sudan are looting villages, murdering civilians and forcibly recruiting young men and boys into their ranks,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told a briefing in Geneva.