(Reuters): 1. Seven killed as Ugandans, South Sudanese clash at border 2. *****************************************************************************
Seven killed as Ugandans, South Sudanese clash at border
Fri Sep 19, 2014 4:09pm GMT
By Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed in a string
of clashes either side of Uganda and South Sudan's border, a remote area
plagued by cattle rustling and conflicts over territory, Uganda's military
said.
The fighting started on Thursday when South Sudanese gunmen detained Ugandan
local government officials carrying out a census, accusing them of straying
into South Sudanese territory, said Uganda's military spokesman Paddy
Ankunda.
That triggered demonstrations in the Ugandan border town of Moyo, where
Ugandans razed houses belonging to South Sudanese residents, Ankunda said.
That, in turn, led to a series of tit-for-tat attacks.
"I am informed last evening Ugandan youth entered South Sudan and killed a
South Sudanese woman. In retaliation, South Sudanese militants entered
Uganda and killed five people at around midnight," Ankunda told Reuters.
A local government official in Moyo, Jimmy Vukoni, told Reuters by telephone
that he had received reports that South Sudanese youths on Friday also
crossed into Uganda and stole cattle, burnt houses and raped women.
Ankunda said five Ugandans were killed in the skirmishes and both Ugandan
and South Sudan security officials were trying defuse the fighting.
A South Sudanese county commissioner near the area where the fighting
occurred, Henry Sabuni, said two people from his country also died.
Uganda sent troops into South Sudan late December in support of the
government of President Salva Kiir against insurgent forces led by his
sacked deputy Riek Machar. (Additional reporting by Denis Dumo in Juba;
Editing by James Macharia and Andrew Heavens)
U.S. sanctions military officers on both sides of S.Sudan conflict
Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:04pm GMT
WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on two
military officers on opposite sides of the ethnic violence in South Sudan on
Thursday in a demonstration of U.S. frustration that fighting has continued
despite two ceasefires.
Thousands have been killed and more than 1 million have fled their homes
since December in South Sudan, the world's newest state, when fighting
erupted between troops backing President Salva Kiir and soldiers loyal to
his sacked deputy, Riek Machar.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on James Koang Chuol, who
defected from South Sudan's army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA),
to join the rebel forces, and Santino Deng Wol, an SPLA major general.
It accused Koang of leading anti-government forces that "targeted civilians,
including women and children, with killing, sexual violence and attacks on
schools, hospitals, religious sites, and locations where civilians were
seeking refuge."
The Treasury Department accused Deng Wol of expanding the conflict in South
Sudan and of obstructing peace, saying he conducted confrontational troop
movements after the signing of a Jan. 23 ceasefire agreement.
It said soon after negotiators agreed to cease hostilities, Deng Wol's
forces broke the agreement with a series of military engagements in which
the SPLA captured the towns of Mayom, Tor Abyad and Wang Kai.
"Both of the individuals we are designating today are prolonging the violent
conflict in South Sudan and engaging in reprehensible violence," Treasury
Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said in
a statement. (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed, editing by G Crosse)