Officials in South Sudan’s Yei River State say thousands of people who fled their homes during fighting over the past two weeks are without food or clean water.
The Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Yei River County says that up to 6,000 internally displaced persons IDPs are living under trees on the outskirts of Yei town. Other local residents fled across the border into the northern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The residents fled fighting between government forces and National Salvation Front rebels led by Thomas Cirillo. Witnesses said that soldiers killed civilians, raped women, and burned entire villages.
Several humanitarian organizations operating in the
area said they also lack the funds necessary to provide humanitarian assistance
to the displaced.
