JUBA, Sudan — The United Nations said yesterday that more than 800 people have been killed and 94,000 displaced because of violence in Southern Sudan this year. A top official warned of a humanitarian crisis if the violence continues.
The violence followed a January referendum that saw the region vote to secede from the north. Southern Sudan is slated to become the world’s newest country in July. But since that vote, the region has seen heavy violence.
Lise Grande, the region’s top UN humanitarian official, said that there have been 151 incidents of violence in the past month, and that the number of displaced people has doubled.
Most of the clashes have been tribal violence. But militant groups have also battled the government, Grande said, adding that rebels from the Lord’s Resistance Army killed four people in recent days.
“We are worried that we have seven militias that are active,’’ Grande said. “With intercommunal violence continuing and the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels active in Western Equatoria State, that is not a good picture.’’ Grande warned that unless the rising level of insecurity is stemmed, the south is likely to suffer a widening humanitarian crisis.
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