UN urges South Sudan to lift restrictions on river transport

The United Nations on Saturday urged South Sudan to lift restrictions on river transportation to allow delivery of humanitarian assistance.

"South Sudan should ensure that the restriction on barges in River Nile which transports vital life-saving supplies is lifted without delay," UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien said at a press conference in South Sudan's capital Juba.

South Sudan on Thursday decided to stop river transport due to the insecurity threats posed along the River Nile by the South Sudanese rebels led by former vice president Riek Machar.

Meanwhile, O'Brien criticized the attacks on humanitarian workers in South Sudan, pointing out that 27 aid workers had been killed and others were unaccounted for during the conflict.

"I call on all parties to uphold their obligations to comply with the principles of international humanitarian law and ensure the safe passage of humanitarian assistance," he noted.

"We need rapid and unhindered access to provide assistance to conflict affected communities by the most efficient means possible," O'Brien added.

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

The conflict soon turned into an all-out war, with the 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 homes. Endit