1st LD: UN Security Council greatly alarmed by renewed ethnic violence in S. Sudan

The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Friday "expressed deep alarm over the escalation of ethnic violence in South Sudan," and "strongly condemned all instances of attacks against civilians, ethnically targeted killings, hate speech, and incitements to violence."

This was contained in a press statement issued by the 15-nation UN body after it was briefed by the special representative of the UN secretary-general, Ellen Loj, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, and the chair of the South Sudan sanctions committee on the current situation in the world's youngest country.

"The members of the Security Council expressed deep alarm over the escalation of ethnic violence in South Sudan reportedly carried out by the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army), the SPLA in Opposition, as well as militias, and unidentified armed groups," the statement said.

Dieng concluded a three-day trip to South Sudan earlier this week. He warned that the country risked spiraling into genocide if nothing was done to calm the situation.

Ambassador Augostino Njoroge, deputy chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), on Friday decried the flare-up of armed clashes, ethnic and political tensions, and lawlessness in parts of the war-torn country. He said that an increase in armed groups had led to a rise in killings and property damage. Endi