South Sudan leaders warned as war escalates

Kenya's Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed

The international community met in Nairobi Monday and issued demands to stem the spiralling war in South Sudan, among them a 12-hour ultimatum to President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar to recall their troops or face unspecified consequences.

The meeting, organised by the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), was attended by envoys from the Unites States, European Union and United Kingdom.

A joint communique read by IGAD Chairman Tedros Adhanom (Ethiopia) demanded the immediate return of all armies and weapons to the barracks and the reopening of Juba International Airport, humanitarian corridors and accountability for those responsible for the breakdown of law and order.

The meeting also demanded the immediate implementation of security arrangements as reached in the peace deal and an increase of troops and change in their role.

The press briefing was attended by Amina Mohamed (Kenya), Mariam Ahmed (South Sudan), Abdulsalam Omer (Somalia), Ibrahim Ghandour (Sudan), Robert Godec (US Ambassador), Nick Hailey (UK High Commissioner) and Stefano Dejak (EU Delegation Ambassador).

Arms embargo

At the same time, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and sanction leaders and commanders blocking the implementation of the peace deal.

While calling for the fortification of a UN peacekeeping mission, Ki-moon said: "This is the time to massively reinforce UN action".

"Fighting has spread to areas outside of Juba in Central Equatoria state," he added.

There was anxiety in Kenya as desperate relatives unsuccessfully tried to contact their loved ones trapped in Juba. Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said Kenya wanted a safe passage so that Kenyans trapped in the troubled country could return home.

There were no statistics of how many people had died, although Amnesty International said hundreds had died while the Associated Press reported 272, among them two Chinese killed at a UN base.

Kenyans trapped in South Sudan took to social media to update their friends and relatives of the fighting as telephone calls were not going through.

On his Facebook page at 10am Monday, Nelson Nzau said the fighting, which had earlier been halted by heavy rains, had resumed.

"No water and food, interesting. Heavy artillery felt, building shaking. It's getting worse," he said.

Osborn Buhere also posted on his wall at 10pm on Sunday that the situation was not good but they were staying strong.

William Gachie took to Twitter to entreat State House Director of Digital Communications Dennis Itumbi to intervene for the sake of Kenyans stranded in the war zone.

"My cousin and other Kenyans are stuck in Sudan. Itumbi, please ask GoK to send help! It's become a full blown war!" he said.

"Foreign Affairs office and Ambassador Amina Mohamed are working tirelessly," Itumbi replied.

He declined to divulge more information, saying "for the sake of security I cannot go to details".

The First Secretary at the South Sudan Embassy in Kenya, Peter Jok, said he had communicated with his family in South Sudan but did not issue any statement about the situation.

"Any other details about the situation, Ambassador Chol Ajongo will address tomorrow (today)," he said.

Amnesty issued a statement Monday, which partly read: "Warring parties in South Sudan must take all possible measures to protect civilians, including thousands of internally displaced people currently sheltering at UN bases".

Injuring civilians

It added: "On July 10 and 11, artillery shells landed in civilian neighbourhoods near Vice-President Riek Machar's base in Jebel neighbourhood, injuring civilians and damaging their homes".

Elizabeth Deng, Amnesty's South Sudan researcher, said: "International law is clear – both sides must refrain from attacking civilian objects, including UN sites where desperate civilians are sheltering. The rival parties must remove military objectives from civilian areas and work with the UN Mission in South Sudan to provide civilians with safe passage out of frontline areas".

And as uncertainty reigned, eastern Africa's largest lender, Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), announced that it had been forced to close its operations in South Sudan, a day after Kenya's national carrier Kenya Airways also suspended flights to Juba.

The bank said it had moved its staff to safer areas as it closely monitored the sad developments in the world's youngest nation.

KCB Group Chief Operating Officer Samuel Makome said all staff have so far been accounted for. "We have reviewed and scaled down branch operations until the situation in the affected areas improves. We apologise to our customers for the disruption of services," said Mr Makome.

Other Kenyan banks operating in South Sudan are Equity Bank with nine branches, Co-operative Bank with four branches and CfC Stanbic Bank.

Associated Press (AP) reported "massive explosions" rocking the Tomping area near the airport, UN bases and embassies.

Some sources estimated that as many as 30,000 civilians taking refuge at the UN bases were vulnerable. Government officials have repeatedly accused civilians inside the UN bases of being rebels or rebel supporters.

Quoting sources from the UN, AP wrote that UN peacekeepers have not fired at the troops shelling the base. The UN peacekeepers in South Sudan are mandated to use lethal force to protect civilians under imminent threat.

Peacekeepers killed

So far, two UN peacekeepers from China were killed at the base on Sunday night, according to Chinese state media. There were 67 injuries and eight deaths at the UN base on Sunday, according to an internal situation report circulated among humanitarian organisations and seen by AP.

Reuters quoted witnesses who saw two helicopters overhead firing in the direction of Machar's headquarters, while residents reported tanks in the streets.

"We urge an end to these hostilities and hope they (political leaders) will return back to taking up all the action points of the peace agreement," the spokeswoman of the UN Mission, Shantal Persaud, told Reuters by telephone.