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S. Sudanese army blames rebels for reported rapes, killings

Xinhua, November 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Sudanese army (SPLA) on Thursday denied the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that it violated human rights and abused civilians in the Yei border town.

The army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang told Xinhua that Sudan People's Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) led by ousted First Vice President Riek Machar were to blame for the rapes and killings documented by HRW.

"The report is not objective, they should have been very bold to say the rebels had been responsible for committing atrocities in Yei and along Juba-Yei road," Koang said.

The report says both the SPLA and SPLA-IO carried out arbitrary arrests, restrictions on movements and attacks on convoys and displacements.

South Sudan's conflict that broke out in December 2013 seemed to subside in August 2015 after the two warring parties inked the peace deal, but renewed July fighting in the capital of Juba forced Machar to flee, leaving the peace deal in a fragile state.

According to UNHCR, intense fighting in Yei has displaced thousands into neighboring Uganda and leaving 100,000 people caught up within the border town which lies 150 km South West of Juba.

Koang further blamed rebels for restricting movements along the Juba-Yei, a key road linking the war-torn country to Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Since August, hundreds of people have been killed in targeted attacks on convoys along the Juba-Nimule and Juba-Yei roads. Endit