By Mylin Batipps
Nation & World Editor
According to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, hundreds of South Sudanese people were killed by their own neighbors because of their ethnic traits, the Los Angeles Times reported.
On Monday, April 21, the U.N. condemned the Sudan People Liberation Movement in Opposition for sexually assaulting and killing people of the Bentiu community in South Sudan because of their ethnicity According to U.N. spokesperson Joe Contrearas, children were also victims of the killings because of their refusal to join the opposition group.
AP Photo.
“...Women and children were killed for hiding and declining to join other Nuers who had gone out to cheer the (SPLM) in Opposition forces as they entered the town,” Contrearas said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Individuals from other South Sudanese communities, as well as Darfuris, were specifically targeted and killed at the hospital.”
Men, women and children have hidden in mosques to ensure that they would not be seen by the opposition group. However, the rebels entered these mosques, killed some of the civilians and escorted others home. Civilians also hid at a Roman Catholic church, only to be found and killed by the gunmen. A total of 200 people were killed, and 400 people were injured.
These killings are the latest of a series of disputes that have been taking place in Bentui, according to the Los Angeles Times. On Thursday, April 17, a U.N. compound was destroyed by rockets, targeting 22,000 people who fled to the base because of their fear of getting killed.
A total of 70,000 South Sudanese citizens are now sheltered in these bases. The disputes have left about 7 million people without food, and 770,000 people have escaped their homes.
Raisedon Zenenga, leading officer of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, has declared that the U.N. look further into the disputes in Bentiu.
“These atrocities must be fully investigated and the perpetrators and their commanders shall be held accountable,” Zenenga said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
