NEWSLINE

By: Ilya Gridneff Associated Press A heavily armed UN convoy walks through the streets of Malakal, the capital of oil-producing Upper Nile state. House after house has been burned to the ground. Hospital patients have been shot by armed rebels while lying in their beds. Dozens of corpses litter the streets. “This is about revenge now. There is no humanity here,” said Col. Jan Hoff, an officer in Norway’s army who has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. South Sudan, he said, is the worst he’s seen. “It’s absolutely horrific,” Hoff said this week as he led a heavily armed UN convoy through the streets of Malakal, the capital of oil-producing Upper Nile state. “This is tribe against tribe. In Syria it was foreign fighters against the government. Here I don’t think it’s about the government.”  A corpse nearby is already a skeleton wrapped in a soldier’s uniform. Hoff said he counted 30 bodies on a recent day. A colleague had counted 70. T

It is heartbreaking to see the devastation wrought on the people of South Sudan since the sudden outbreak of fighting there two months ago. More than 850,000 South Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes ; family members have been killed and injured, homes and livelihoods lost. More than 150,000 have left the country altogether. Children who should be going to school have been orphaned, lost, attacked and recruited into armed forces. Even those who are still with their families have seen things they should not be seeing, experienced violence they should not witness. Hundreds of thousands of children are displaced, living in the open, facing disease and malnutrition, with no place to go where they feel safe, and no school to give them a sense of normality. And as if that were not enough, the rainy season will begin in around six weeks. Under the best of circumstances, the rains bring much flooding to South Sudan, but with over 700,000 people displaced within

Upper Nile state citizens in Malakal's UNMISSCompound have said the rebel fighters have disappeared from the town. 23 February 2014 By Ariik Atekdit JUBA, 23 February 2014 [Gurtong] – Some internally displaced persons (IDPs) residing in the UN base who chatted on facebook with Gurtong's reporter on Saturday said: "Anti-government forces in Malakal have disappeared this morning (Saturday) and nobody knows where they have gone all to." "I don't know whether they have gone back to Nasir or hiding somewhere in the town," an IDP in the UN base said. Another IDP in the same camp has echoed the same message.  "This is true. They are not seen at all. And we cannot independently find their whereabouts because we are confined in the UN camp." Malakal was recaptured on Wednesday by Mr. Machar's rebels with government officials announcing it as a tactical withdrawal

NEWSLINEKENYA: Rebels Claim Pursuit Of SPLA Out Of Malakal : South Sudan rebels on Wednesday claim they were pursuing the government forces outside Malakal town. The rebels also claim the full... text

South Sudan rebels on Wednesday claim they were pursuing the government forces outside Malakal town. The rebels also claim the full control of Malakal town, the state capital of the oil-rich Upper Nile state. 21 February 2014 South Sudanese government soldiers. [File] JUBA – 21 February 2014 [Gurtong] -  Speaking to Radio Miraya on Wednesday, the rebels’ Spokesman Lul Ruai:  “I am not sure if there is any fighting inside Malakal town. May be outside Malakal town where our forces are still pursuing the government forces. They are running towards Akoka,” Lul said. Lul claimed that there have been bombings on their forces on Wednesday morning by Ugandan troops. He denied claims by the SPLA that they are involved in looting in the town but he instead said they are peacefully positioning themselves. The rebels’ mouthpiece said fighting escalated on Tuesday after when the SPLA started gunfire on their positions. The rebels claim full contr

  United Nation Children Fund (UNICEF) says it is alarmed by the increase in recruitment of children into armed conflict in Central African Republic, South Sudan and Syria. 12 February 2014 Child Soldiers. [IRIN Photo] By Gabriel Mayom JUBA, 12 February, 2014 [Gurtong] -  The concern comes as the world marks  the International Day against the use of Child Soldiers on 12 February today. In a joint press statement, UNICEF and Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict, have created a fact sheet on recruitment and use of children. “The United Nations continues to receive credible reports that children have been recruited and used by Government and opposition forces in the conflict in South Sudan,” the statement said. The allegation comes at a time the Government of South Sudan has already committed herself to preventing and ending the recruitment and use of children by its national security force

  UPDF soldiers holding brooms as they march through Juba town  during Tarehe Sita celebrations, Tuesday. PHOTO: Kennedy Oryema When they were done, they left the places much better and cleaner than they found them, winning praise of the local people. Given the recent conflict, heavily armed soldiers, some with guns strung to their backs others with rifles dangling off their shoulders attacked piles of rubbish and garbage with various implements such as spades and cleaned them out. In some places they just swept. The rubbish was loaded on to waiting trucks to be dumped away. The exercise part of the numerous activities to mark the annual Tarehe sita (February 6)  army day which will be commemorated tomorrow a. In Uganda, national events take place in  Busheyi under the theme: National Consciousness and Pan Africanism the corner stone for African peace, stability and transformation. Several other activities to m