25 Dec 2013

US marines ready to enter Sth Sudan

8:51 pm on 25 December 2013

Military officials say that about 150 American marines are ready to enter South Sudan to help evacuate Americans and provide security for the United States Embassy in Juba.

The troops have been moved from Spain to the American Navy's Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.

An estimated 100 US citizens are believed to be in South Sudan, where violence is stoking fears of an all-out civil war in the world's newest country.

The United States says the fighting is over political difference, but some ethnic tensions are also being played out.

Nearly 400 American citizens and about another 300 nationals of other countries have been evacuated.

Meanwhile, the United Nations says thousands of South Sudanese have been killed in over a week of violence with reports of at least three mass graves. The unrest has taken on an ethnic dimension, pitting Dinka and Nuer tribes.

The top UN humanitarian chief in the country, Toby Lanzer, said on Tuesday there was no doubt in his mind that thousands were dead.

Earlier, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said a mass grave had been found in the rebel-held town of Bentiu, while there were "reportedly at least two other mass graves" in the capital Juba.

The grim discovery follows escalating battles between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing his rival Riek Machar, a former vice president who was sacked in July.

Witnesses that AFP has spoken to recount a wave of atrocities, including an orchestrated campaign of ethnic mass killings and rape.

The unrest has taken on an ethnic dimension, pitting Kiir's Dinka tribe against the Nuer tribe to which Mr Machar belongs.

The official toll nationwide has stood at 500 dead for days, although numbers are feared to be far higher, aid workers say.

The UN Security Council approved plans on Tuesday to almost double the number of its peacekeepers in the country as soon as possible.

The 15-member council unanimously authorised a request by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to boost the strength of the mission to 12,500 troops and 1,323 police, up from its previous mandate of 7,000 troops and 900 police.

President Salva Kiir said his government's forces had recaptured of the key town of Bor after a nearly week-long rebel occupation, although large areas remain out of their control.