At Least 300 Dead In Latest South Sudan Violence

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said the two flights sent to evacuate Indians from South Sudan, where a fragile ceasefire holds amid civil war, had cleared the conflict zone late on Thursday.

State Minister for Electricity Kadakampally Surendran and district officials received the evacuated Indians at the airport on behalf of the Kerala government.

“The Prime Minister has welcomed all our Indian sisters & brothers who have returned from South Sudan”, the PMO said.

According to a report in The Hindu, on Sunday, the Indian embassy in South Sudan had asked the stranded Indians to stay calm, assuring them that they are in constant touch with authorities in India and all options are being considered to provide relief to them amid heavy fighting.

As the guns remained silent, President Salva Kiir said he was granting an amnesty, with effect from Wednesday, to the ex-rebels loyal to longtime rival Riek Machar who battled government troops in Juba over four days.

“The UN boss expressed outrage at the untold suffering inflicted upon the people of South Sudan”, said a statement released by Mr. Ban’s office.

“The people hit hardest by this fighting are struggling to cope in appalling conditions”, said Mahimbo Mdoe, UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan.

In light of the fighting the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) called on Tuesday for neighbouring countries to open their borders to South Sudanese fleeing the violence.

Two IAF C17’s departed for South Sudan around 5 am today with VK Singh leading the operation.

Even though, Shyam’s parents have only the faintest idea of the bloodshed taking place in the NorthEast African nation, they are mighty relieved and indeed happy that their son has got back unharmed. But U.N. officials and aid groups said they believed the death toll was higher. Machar said he immediately called President Kiir after receiving the news that his minister was beaten at Crown Hotel, adding that President Kiir denied knowledge of what had happened.

“The project aims to improve the livelihoods of people in Juba city through the provision of improved water supply infrastructure”, AfDB said.

Naveen, 34, told IANS that he could not come out of his home in Thongpiny area in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, since Friday when he heard gunfire outside. The fighting began a year before Sudan’s independence in 1956, with the southerners resisting the Sudanese government’s attempts to Islamize and Arabize their part of the new country. More than 4,640 Indian citizens in Yemen were evacuated along with 960 foreign nationals of 41 countries.