2nd LD Writethru: UN chief "deeply alarmed" by current fighting in capital of South Sudan

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said that he was "deeply alarmed" by the ongoing fighting in Juba, capital of South Sudan, between soldiers of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA in opposition, and he urged an immediate end to the current conflict in the world's youngest country.

"This outbreak of hostilities in the capital, on the eve of the country's fifth anniversary of independence, is yet another illustration of the parties' lack of serious commitment to the peace process and represents a new betrayal of the people of South Sudan, who have suffered from unfathomable atrocities since December 2013," said a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman.

"I urge President Kiir and First Vice-President Riek Machar to put an immediate end to the ongoing fighting, discipline the military leaders responsible for the violence and finally work together as partners to implement the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan," the secretary-general said in the statement.

The renewed fighting left five soldiers killed and two others wounded late on Thursday in Juba, reports said.

South Sudan has canceled this year's independence celebrations due to the economic crunch resulting from more than two years of civil conflict. It won independence on July 9 2011 from Sudan after more than two decades of war that ended in a bitter divorce.

The country again plunged into conflict in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup, which the latter denied, leading to a cycle of retaliatory killings.

President Kiir and former rebel leader and now first Vice President Machar signed a peace deal in August that paved way for the formation of the transitional unity government to end more than two years of civil conflict.

"I am also gravely concerned by the resurgence of violence in Wau and Bentiu, which could lead to a dramatic deterioration of the security situation across the country," the statement said.

"I demand that international humanitarian law be respected and also that unfettered access to those in need by United Nations and humanitarian partners be ensured."

"I strongly condemn attacks on United Nations and humanitarian operations, the latest of which was on a senior UN agency official in the capital last night," the statement said. Enditem