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South Sudan rebels blamed for massacres push offensive

– ‘Unspeakable violence’ –

Heavy fighting on Tuesday was also reported in the eastern state of Jonglei, and in Upper Nile in the northeast, with Aguer boasting the army had repulsed the attacks and killed scores of rebels.

“In Upper Nile… the number of rebels killed was 48,” he said, claims that were not possible to independently verify.

“In Jonglei… the fighting was heavy but the rebels were fought back,” he added.

In Bentiu, some 23,000 terrified civilians have crowded into the cramped UN peacekeeping base for protection, where under both fierce heat and heavy rains – and little if any shelter – they are surviving on just a litre of water a day.

Jonathan Veitch, the UN children’s agency chief in the country, warned Tuesday of the “very real risk of fatal water-borne diseases”.

“Children have endured unspeakable violence,” Veitch said in a statement. “They must not continue to suffer in places that should provide safety.”

The conflict in South Sudan, which only won independence from Sudan in 2011 and is the world’s youngest nation, has left thousands dead and forced around a million people to flee their homes.

The fighting has been marked by reports and allegations of atrocities by both sides.

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Peace talks are due to restart in neighbouring Ethiopia later this month, and despite the worsening conflict, South Sudan Information Minister Michael Makuei said the government remained committed. READ: Uhuru urges quick resolution of South Sudan crisis.

“What we want is peace not war…we will still go and negotiate,” he told AFP, but said he feared rebels wanted to fight on, and that if so, the government had the “duty to protect its citizens.”

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