IGAD accuses S. Sudan of waging war against rebels

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has accused the South Sudanese government of launching a "full scale" war against the rebels, led by former vice-president Riek Machar, Sudan Tribune reported on Saturday.

In a statement released Friday, IGAD chief mediator Seyoum Mesfin blamed the government forces for coordinated attacks against rebel positions "in Rubkona, Mayom, Guit, Koch and Mayendit counties in Unity State since April 27."

"It is also increasingly clear that the offensive is being expanded into Jonglei and Upper Nile States," the statement added, pointing out that these attacks represent a serious violation of the cessation of hostilities agreements signed in January 2014 and November 2014.

The chief mediator said he was alarmed by "credible reports" of violence against civilians, grave human rights abuses and destruction of villages."

He added the attacks displaced over 100,000 people in the fighting areas, while aid groups and UN agencies were forced to evacuate their staff due to insecurity, depriving populations in desperate need of emergency food assistance.

He also accused the government of blocking IGAD monitors from accessing areas of conflict, saying they were allowed to move beyond three kilometres from the state capital, Bentiu.

Meanwhile, the South Sudanese government on Friday denied in a statement that its forces were responsible for military offensive into opposition-held areas in violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement.

"The rebels continue to violate the cessation of hostilities agreement by launching attacks on government positions in the Unity State, destroying national infrastructures, burning down villages, killing and abducting innocent civilians and forcing displacement of many civilians in the state and across the greater Upper Nile region," the statement said.

South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors headed by his former deputy Riek Machar.

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with violence taking on an ethnic dimension that pitted the president's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee their homes. Endit