LOC21:30
18:30 GMT
NEW YORK, April 17 (KUNA) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday "strongly condemns" the attacks earlier today by armed mobs on civilians and UN Peacekeepers in Bor, capital of Jonglei State in South Sudan, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric told the daily press briefing.
Thousands of civilians are seeking refuge in the protection site belonging to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
"Attack on a location where civilians are being protected by the United Nations is a serious escalation," Dujarric said, reiterating Ban's call on all parties that any attack on United Nations Peacekeepers is "unacceptable and constitutes a war crime."
In this instance, Ban called on the Government of South Sudan to "immediately take steps to ensure the safety of all UNMISS Protection of Civilians sites in South Sudan. He also calls on all parties to refrain from any actions or statements that could further escalate the situation."
In a related matter, the Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, also issued a statement from Juba, the country's capital, saying the violence "must end," adding that there is "no excuse for direct attacks on civilians, or on those risking their own lives to protect them."
"These events show, yet again, the pointlessness of the violence engulfing South Sudan. The current cycle of revenge will get the people of this country nowhere. It wrecks the present, and casts a dark shadow over what should have been a very bright future," he noted.
He called on the parties to the conflict to "immediately cease hostilities and resume meaningful negotiations to find a political solution to their differences. And I call on the wisdom and compassion of all South Sudanese, from all the diverse communities that make up this country, to do whatever they can to put an end to the fighting, before more innocent men, women and children are lost."
According to the UN, more than 900,000 people have been forced from their homes. Some 190,000 of them fled to neighbouring countries, and dozens of thousands sought refuge in UN protection sites across the country.
A political crisis erupted in the country on December 15 when government Dinka soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir accused his Nuer rival former Vice-President Riek Machar of staging an attempted coup. Fighting between the two tribes subsequently picked up pace. (end)
sj