Aid workers flee

The surge in fighting in eastern South Sudan has forced 60 aid workers to flee, hurting efforts to help desperate civilians in the famine-hit nation, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said on Saturday,. "There are no words left to explain the level of frustration and outrage I feel regarding the continued attacks against humanitarians in South Sudan who are simply trying to help the civilians who are suffering as a result of this conflict," said OCHA coordinator Eugene Owusu in a statement. "Separately, 60 humanitarian workers have had to relocate from multiple locations in Jonglei yesterday and today -- including Waat and Walgak -- due to intensified conflict in the area." The outbreak of violence in the eastern Jonglei region comes after fierce clashes in southern Pajok and western Wau in the past two weeks. According to a tally of UN figures and deaths that witnesses reported to AFP, 101 people were killed in the two towns. OPINION: South Sudan not facing 'genocide', but violence is constant

The UN peacekeeping mission UNMISS, which has been blocked from accessing some conflict zones, said 13,500 people had fled to their base near Wau this week. More than 3,000 others were seeking refuge at a Catholic church compound. "Fresh fighting has broken out between government and opposition forces in a number of locations including Raga in the west of South Sudan, Waat in Jonglei to the east, and in the area of Wunkur and Tonga in the northern Upper Nile region," the UN said in a statement. The special representative for the UN secretary general in South Sudan, Moustapha Soumare, on Saturday called for a halt to fighting, urging "all parties, to prove their commitment to peace". "They must show restraint and demonstrate their responsibility to ensure the sanctity of life of all South Sudanese citizens," he said in a statement. The three-year civil war in the world's youngest country has created a massive humanitarian crisis.
At least 16 people are killed amid fresh fighting in Raga, according to a SPLM-IO spokesperson. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that over 60 humanitarian aid workers were forced to flee.