Juba, February 19, 2019 (SSNA) — Fighting between government and rebel forces continues in Yei River State despite the peace deal that was signed in September 2018, the Aljazeera reports.
The report comes as government forces intensify their operations against the National Salvation Front (NAS) – an armed group that refused to back the agreement.
Last week, the United Nations said civilians are being killed and that those who managed to hide in the bushes afraid of returning to their homes. The agency also explains that thousands of civilians have fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The deputy governor of Yei River State Yousto Baba Dema Lukudu accuses the NAS of “abducting citizens wherever they find them and killing citizens for no reason,” according to a report by the Aljazeera.
The South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) understands that government forces began a military offensive against the NAS on January 19 days after the national army (SSPDF) declared the group as a threat to peace.
South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has recently instructed Jubek State elders to meet with their son, Thomas Cirillo, who is the leader of the National Salvation Front. Kiir told the elders to ask the NAS leader to abandon his rebellion. However, the NAS has rejected Kiir’s request, according to one of Cirillo’s senior aides who spoke to the South Sudan News Agency on Monday.