DHAKA: At least 45,000 South Sudanese civilians have sought protection at badly overstretched UN bases amid brutal fighting that has spread to half of the young nation’s 10 states.

The UN said Tuesday, reports TDS.

At least 20,000 people are sheltering at two UN bases in the capital Juba, while 17,000 are sheltering in the UN base in the rebel-held town of Bor, state capital of powder-keg eastern Jonglei state.

A further 7,000 people are sheltering at the UN base in Bentiu, state capital of the oil-producing Unity state, also in rebel hands, the UN added, while ‘sporadic fighting’ has been reported in Upper Nile, another oil-rich state.

The UN said at least 45,000 people were sheltering at those and other bases.

‘The estimated number of people displaced in the current crisis in South Sudan has risen to 81,000,’ the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation report.

‘Given the limited access to civilians outside population centres, the number is likely to be significantly higher.’

BDST: 1728 HRS, DEC 24, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor