UN reports calm, but tense situation in South Sudanese capital

The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported that the situation in Juba remains calm but tense, and the mission also reported instances of sporadic firing in Leer over the weekend, including near UNMISS' temporary operating base, a UN spokesman told reporters here Monday.

"Further to previous search operations for weapons at the UN Tomping compound, the mission reports that a similar exercise was conducted in the Protection of Civilians site 1 adjacent to UN House on 16 July," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

"The operation resulted in a number of items confiscated, including small arms and ammunition rounds, machetes and military uniforms."

Meanwhile, a total of 140 non-critical UNMISS staff have been temporarily relocated from Juba, Haq said. "The mission continues to carry out all its critical operations."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported new arrivals into several of the sites for internally displaced people in Juba, including both UN sites (UN House and Tomping), he said.

The number of people displaced following the recent fighting is now estimated to be nearly 15,000, including more than 10,830 at the UNMISS sites and more than 4,100 outside, he said. "Humanitarian organisations continue to respond in several of the affected locations."

"The humanitarian community condemns the recent looting of the World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warehouses in Juba, which stored food for at least 220,000 people and livelihood support for thousands of vulnerable families across South Sudan," he said.

"Humanitarians also condemn the looting of humanitarian compounds in Leer during the recent fighting," he said.

"They note that these incidents will have a substantial impact on the humanitarian operations at a time when needs are growing," he said. "They stress that the destruction and damage to humanitarian facilities and violence against aid workers are unacceptable and must stop."

The latest round of violence followed deadly clashes between the rival factions on July 7-8 in the capital city. South Sudan's Health Ministry says at least 271 people were killed in the July 8 clashes.

The world's youngest 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. Endit