AFRICAPOLITICS

South Sudan government troops launch an offensive on Bor and Bentiu

South Sudan_2The government of South Sudan has launched a counter-offensive to retake the strategic towns of Bor and Bentiu in the north of the country. The towns were captured by rebel forces last month which caused a refugee crisis and an outcry from the international community.

The sides were summoned to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to hold peace talks. However, as government officials flew to Ethiopia, its military launched an operation advancing on Bor, the capital of Jonglei and Bentiu, the capital of Unity state. The states are known for their rich oil deposits.

The fighting broke in the capital Juba several weeks ago and escalated into an ethnically-driven violence, with President Salva Kiir’s majority Dinka tribe on one side and the ex-Vice President Riek Machar’s Nuer ethnic group. In a matter of two weeks, over one thousand people have been killed, and nearly two hundred thousand were displaced.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had earlier expressed his concerns over the escalating violence. He said the government must guarantee the security of all civilians regardless of which community they come from.

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Foreign Policy News is a self-financed initiative providing a venue and forum for political analysts and experts to disseminate analysis of major political and business-related events in the world, shed light on particulars of U.S. foreign policy from the perspective of foreign media and present alternative overview on current events affecting the international relations.

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