{UAH} MASS ETHENIC KILLINGS IN SOUTH SUDAN

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'Mass ethnic killings' in South Sudan

UN aid co-ordinator: "There were a lot of gunshots and a lot of dead bodies"

New details are emerging of alleged ethnic killings committed during more than a week of violence in South Sudan.

A reporter in the capital Juba quoted witnesses as saying more than 200 people, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group, were shot by security forces.

Another man in Juba reported that gunmen from the Dinka tribe were shooting people in Nuer districts who did not speak the Dinka language.

South Sudan's government has denied it is behind any ethnic violence. (That was exactly what yoweri museveni's NRA...AND UPDF Did to those Backward Bilogical Subistances  in Northern Uganda...and you thought we have forgotten)

The reports emerged as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the Security Council to add 5,500 UN troops to the 7,000-strong force in South Sudan.

Rebels supporting sacked former vice-president Riek Machar have seized major towns over the past week.

Tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting.

'Eyewitness account'

The journalist in Juba, Hannah McNeish, told the BBC that she had interviewed a man called Simon, who was shot four times but managed to survive a mass killing.

Ban Ki-moon: "The world is watching all sides in South Sudan"

"He tells of being rounded up with about two 250 other men, driven to a police station in one of Juba's busiest suburbs. He describes an ordeal whereby over the course of two days, forces outside the windows fired into this room, killing all but 12 men."

McNeish said this account had been "corroborated by two other survivors who are all at the UN camp".

Another man interviewed at the UN base in Juba reported that gunmen from the Dinka tribe were shooting people in Nuer districts.

Meanwhile, UN humanitarian co-ordinator Toby Lanzer, who was in Bor, north of Juba, over the weekend, told the BBC he had witnessed "some of the most horrible things that one can imagine".

The town of Bor is being held by the rebels.

The claims of atrocities have not been independently verified.

Up to 1,000 people are thought to have been killed in the fighting and UN compounds are sheltering more than 40,000 civilians.

'Face the consequences'

The conflict began last week, when President Salva Kiir, a member of the majority Dinka ethnic group, accused Mr Machar, a Nuer, of attempting to launch a coup.

Mr Machar, who was sacked as vice-president in July, denies trying to seize power.

Who is Riek Machar?

• Central figure in Sudanese and South Sudanese politics for three decades
• Ethnic Nuer - second largest group in South Sudan
• Senior southern rebel SPLM commander but split in 1990s
• After 2005 peace deal appointed vice-president, retaining the post after independence in 2011 until his dismissal in July 2013

• Riek Machar in profile

The fear is that their personal rivalry will spark a full-scale conflict between the Nuer and Dinka groups.

On Monday, Mr Ban urged the Security Council to strengthen the UN mission in the country, Unmiss, "on an urgent basis in order to help ensure the protection of civilians and the protection of United Nations personnel".

He requested that 5,500 troops be reassigned from UN missions in other African countries, including Liberia and Democratic Republic of Congo.

In addition, he asked for hundreds more police, three attack helicopters, three transport helicopters and one military transport plane.

Earlier he said would "investigate reports of grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity".

"Those responsible at the senior level will be held personally accountable and face the consequences, even if they claim they had no knowledge of the attacks," Mr Ban added.

Two Indian peacekeepers were killed last week in a rebel raid on a UN compound.

The fighting began in the capital Juba last week after Mr Kiir said he had quashed an attempted coup.

Since then, violence has spread throughout South Sudan, with rebels taking the major towns of Bor and Bentiu.

           Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni and Dr. Kiiza Besigye Uganda is in anarchy"
           Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
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