US sends Marines to South Sudan to protect Americans
In this Tuesday July 12, 2016 photo, people take
shelter near the All Saints Church in Juba, South Sudan. Embassies and
aid organizations in South Sudan were trying to evacuate staff from the
capital, Juba, on Tuesday as a precarious calm settled over the city
following several days of deadly clashes. (AP Photo)
The U.S.
military in Africa said Wednesday it has sent 40 additional soldiers to
South Sudan's capital, Juba, to help secure American personnel and
facilities in the war-torn city, while South Sudanese trying to flee the
country by road reported attacks, killings and robberies by armed men.
Amid
a tense cease-fire which has held since Monday night, the U.S. troops
deployed at the request of the State Department, said Africom
spokeswoman Cpt. Jennifer Dyrcz.In five days of fighting in the capital, President Salva Kiir's forces ousted those loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar, the former rebel leader in the country's recent civil war, from one of their bases.
The U.S. Embassy in Juba said it was organizing flights to evacuate non-essential staff and for all U.S. citizens wishing to leave South Sudan. Commercial flights to Juba remained cancelled, though charter flights were evacuating hundreds of aid workers and other foreign citizens.
Italy's foreign ministry said air force aircraft landed Wednesday in Juba to evacuate 30 Italians who decided to leave. Germany's foreign ministry said its air force was evacuating German, European and other foreign citizens.
The U.N. said 36,000 South Sudanese civilians have fled their homes due to the fighting.
Some tried to reach neighboring Uganda by road, but an Associated Press reporter spoke to people who had been wounded in attacks by armed men as they tried to flee. Many cars had been shot at or burned. Government forces had erected roadblocks to demand money from those fleeing. Some people were sent back to Juba.
The U.N. refugee agency has expressed concern about the South Sudan-Uganda crossing, "where security is tightened on the South Sudan side," and it called on all armed parties to allow safe passage.
In Juba, others took shelter in churches, U.N. bases and aid workers' compounds, but there were reports of government soldiers blocking aid workers from moving to areas where civilians need assistance.
"There is hardly any food in the market, and people are starving. As a result, they are turning to coping mechanisms like looting to survive," said Jeremiah Young, policy adviser for World Vision.
Relief workers should be given freedom of movement, said the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Eugene Owusu.
"We urgently call on all concerned to guarantee safe and unhindered access for humanitarian organizations to ensure that we are able to reach all people in need, including in locations hardest-hit by the fighting," he said.
Meanwhile, fighting continued to spread to other parts of South Sudan. Shantal Persaud, the spokeswoman for the U.N. mission there, said it had received a report of small-arms fire in Leer town in Unity state Wednesday morning. The town is Machar's birthplace.
___
Associated Press writers Charlton Doki in Kampala, Uganda, and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.
In this Tuesday July 12, 2016 photo, people take
shelter near the All Saints Church in Juba, South Sudan. Embassies and
aid organizations in South Sudan were trying to evacuate staff from the
capital, Juba, on Tuesday as a precarious calm settled over the city
following several days of deadly clashes. (AP Photo)
Aid workers from different Non-Governmental
Organizations in South Sudan arrive at Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 from Juba. Commercial flights to Juba remain
cancelled though charter flights are evacuating hundreds of aid workers
and other foreign citizens from the capital. The U.S. military in Africa
says it has sent 40 additional soldiers to South Sudan's capital, Juba,
to help secure American personnel and facilities in the war-torn city.
(AP Photo/John Muchucha)
Aid workers from different Non-Governmental
Organizations in South Sudan arrive at Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 from Juba. Commercial flights to Juba remain
cancelled though charter flights are evacuating hundreds of aid workers
and other foreign citizens from the capital. The U.S. military in Africa
says it has sent 40 additional soldiers to South Sudan's capital, Juba,
to help secure American personnel and facilities in the war-torn city.
(AP Photo/John Muchucha)
Zimbabwe Aid worker, Selvias Matambo, working
for Dan Church Aid in Juba, South Sudan arrives at Wilson airport in
Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, July 13, 2016 from Juba. Commercial flights to
Juba remain cancelled though charter flights are evacuating hundreds of
aid workers and other foreign citizens from the capital. The U.S.
military in Africa says it has sent 40 additional soldiers to South
Sudan's capital, Juba, to help secure American personnel and facilities
in the war-torn city. (AP Photo/John Muchucha)
In this Tuesday July 12, 2016 photo, a woman
sits with her child near a church in Juba, South Sudan. Embassies and
aid organizations in South Sudan were trying to evacuate staff from the
capital, Juba, on Tuesday as a precarious calm settled over the city
following several days of deadly clashes. (AP Photo)
A woman fills water from a UN tanker in Juba,
South Sudan at the UN compound in the Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12,
2016. An uneasy calm settled over South Sudan's capital on Tuesday after
the country's leader and his top rival both demanded a cease-fire.
Renewed fighting between opposing army forces has raised fears of a
return to civil war in the East African country, which marked its fifth
anniversary of independence over the weekend while panicked residents
hid inside their homes. A look at the situation for the nation's
estimated 12 million people. (Beatrice Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)
In this photo provided by UNMISS , children pose
for a photograph, in Juba, South Sudan at the UN compound in the
Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. An uneasy calm settled over South
Sudan's capital on Tuesday after the country's leader and his top rival
both demanded a cease-fire. Renewed fighting between opposing army
forces has raised fears of a return to civil war in the East African
country, which marked its fifth anniversary of independence over the
weekend while panicked residents hid inside their homes. A look at the
situation for the nation's estimated 12 million people. (Beatrice
Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)
In this photo provided by UNMISS , children pose
for a photograph, in Juba, South Sudan at the UN compound in the
Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. An uneasy calm settled over South
Sudan's capital on Tuesday after the country's leader and his top rival
both demanded a cease-fire. Renewed fighting between opposing army
forces has raised fears of a return to civil war in the East African
country, which marked its fifth anniversary of independence over the
weekend while panicked residents hid inside their homes. A look at the
situation for the nation's estimated 12 million people. ( Beatrice
Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)
In this photo provided by UNMISS , displaced
women, men and children gather, in Juba, South Sudan at the UN compound
in Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. An uneasy calm settled over
South Sudan's capital on Tuesday after the country's leader and his top
rival both demanded a cease-fire. Renewed fighting between opposing army
forces has raised fears of a return to civil war in the East African
country, which marked its fifth anniversary of independence over the
weekend while panicked residents hid inside their homes. A look at the
situation for the nation's estimated 12 million people. ( Beatrice
Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)
A woman prepares food as displaced women, men
and children gather, in Juba, South Sudan at the UN compound in Tomping
area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. An uneasy calm settled over South Sudan's
capital on Tuesday after the country's leader and his top rival both
demanded a cease-fire. Renewed fighting between opposing army forces has
raised fears of a return to civil war in the East African country,
which marked its fifth anniversary of independence over the weekend
while panicked residents hid inside their homes. A look at the situation
for the nation's estimated 12 million people. ( Beatrice Mategwa/UNMISS
via AP)
In this photo made available by UNMISS, a woman
prepares food as displaced women, men and children gather, in Juba,
South Sudan at the UN compound in Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016.
An uneasy calm settled over South Sudan's capital on Tuesday after the
country's leader and his top rival both demanded a cease-fire. Renewed
fighting between opposing army forces has raised fears of a return to
civil war in the East African country, which marked its fifth
anniversary of independence over the weekend while panicked residents
hid inside their homes. A look at the situation for the nation's
estimated 12 million people. ( Beatrice Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)
A woman prepares food as displaced women, men
and children seek shelter in Juba, South Sudan at the UN compound in
Tomping area, Tuesday, July 12, 2016. An uneasy calm settled over South
Sudan's capital on Tuesday after the country's leader and his top rival
both demanded a cease-fire. Renewed fighting between opposing army
forces has raised fears of a return to civil war in the East African
country, which marked its fifth anniversary of independence over the
weekend while panicked residents hid inside their homes. A look at the
situation for the nation's estimated 12 million people. ( Beatrice
Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)
In this photo taken late Friday, July 8, 2016
and released by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS),
villagers huddle for safety from the fighting between buildings near the
UN base and compound in the capital Juba, South Sudan. The president of
South Sudan and his opposition rival both called Monday for a
cease-fire in a conflict that has seen fierce clashes between their
forces spread from the capital to a southeastern town. (Eric
Kanalstein/UNMISS via AP)
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