By Okech Francis
JUBA
The UN warned Monday that military operations in South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile states over the past three days had left 650,000 people without desperately-needed assistance.
"UN agencies and their partners are working to address the immense humanitarian consequences of the violence, which has resulted in more than 650,000 civilians being left without life-saving aid," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan Toby Lanzer said in a Monday statement.
"Eyewitness accounts report targeted rape and killing of civilians, including children," he added.
According to Lanzer, the offensive in Unity State has left thousands of homes burnt to the ground.
He added that, in Malakal, armed groups had engaged in combat next to the UN's protection-of-civilians (Poc) site, and, as a consequence, "civilians trying to stay out of harm's way have been injured."
South Sudan has been ravaged by violence since December of 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked vice-president, Riek Machar, of leading a coup attempt against his regime.
The ensuing conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead, two million seeking refuge – both internally and as refugees in neighboring countries – and 2.5 million at risk of starvation in 2015, according to UN data.
On-again, off-again peace talks in Addis Ababa have failed to produce any tangible breakthroughs.
"The lack of respect for the sanctity of life, humanitarian infrastructure and the UN's protection-of-civilians site constitute breaches of international humanitarian law," Lanzer said.
"I call on all commanding officers to ensure that their combatants protect and respect civilians, including national and international aid workers and their property," he added.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), meanwhile, has also reported incursions by militants into its base in Bentiu, capital of Unity State, since the violence began over three weeks ago.
"We suspect they are Sudan People's Liberation Army," UNMISS spokesperson Ariane Quentier told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
Quentier said the mission was finding it increasingly difficult to follow events in Unity State outside the UN base in Bentiu after being denied access by local authorities.
"We are also trying to leave our PoC site because of all these rumors about human rights violations taking place during the offensives, but we are not being granted access by the military and the political authorities," the spokesperson asserted.
Following the fighting in Malakal, which began on Friday, Quentier said there had been considerable violence that had led numerous people to seek refuge at the local UN base.
