The renewed fighting in Malakal, Upper Nile State forced International Committee of the Red Cross or ICRC to relocate its nearby operational base from Kodok to Oriny as the situation worsens.
ICRC head of delegation in South Sudan Franz Rauchenstein in a statement warns that the more fighting expands, the more vulnerable people suffer from the risk of sexual violence, lack of food and medicine or forced conscription of young civilians.
He reminds all parties that targeting of civilians and the use of children into armed conflict is prohibited and defined as a war crime under international humanitarian law.
Mr Franz laments that the intensified shelling in Kodok town of Upper Nile and Leer of Unity State puts patients’ lives in extreme danger, telling the warring parties not to target medical facilities and civilians.
He fears that thousands of civilians forced to flee fighting would suffer from a lack of food and health care while on the run and the disturbance negatively impact on residents’ ability to plant food to feed their families next harvest season.