The barrel bombs believed to contain very burning fluid have been used in air attacks in South Sudan, because the escalation of violence pushes the latest country in the world on the edge of the Second Civil War, the UN said.
Nicholas Hays’ comments, the UN mission chief in South Sudan, follow the recent struggle between the army and the rebel militia, known as the White Army, at the North City of Nasir in the northern Nil Nil nil niphom.
Since the white army overcome the base, there was a permanent air bombing, which caused “significant victims and terrible burns,” he said.
“The conflict would delete all the difficult gains from signing the Peace Agreement 2018,” he warned.
“It would devastate not only southern Sudan, but also the whole region, which simply cannot afford another war,” Said Mr. Hays.
The government did not respond to the allegations of the barrel.
President Salva Kiir and his rival Vice -President Riek Machar agreed in August 2018 to end the five -year civil war in which nearly 400,000 people were killed.
But in the last seven years, their relationship has become all tense in the midst of ethnic tension and sporadic violence.
At the beginning of March, several oldest allies Machara arrested security forces, which his allies called a “serious violation” of the peace agreement.
This was followed by a conflict between the army and the white army, who fought along with Machar during the Civil War, which broke out in 2013 – shortly after the country gained independence from Sudan.
“In retaliation, communities across the upper Nile are subjected to permanent air bombing using a device, barrels of bombs, allegedly containing a highly burning fluid that acts as an accelerated explosion,” Mr. Hays said.
“These non -select civilian attacks cause significant victims and terrible injuries, especially burns.”
Such accusations were first presented by local leaders in Gornji Nilo.
James Gatluak Lew, Commissioner of District Nasir, told the BBC that the state forces and their allies had performed a “chemical bombing”.
Local media reported that ethyl acetate, a highly flammable chemical compound, had been found in the locations of the attack.
In an earlier interview with the BBC, Edmund Yakani, the head of a local non -governmental organization, said he had heard similar reports.
Studivivors, including local communities and business informants, told their community to empower the Progress (CEPO) organization about the use of “unusual weapons,” he said.
Government spokesman Michael Makuei confirmed that a military operation occurred last week, insisting that “bombing was strictly against the position of the white army and did not hurt civilians.”
But Mr. Hays said that civilians, including women and children, were largely affected, with an estimated 63,000 people forced to flee from their homes.
He added that such violence escalated as the country approached the election, and is expected next year.
“Blind misinformation, disinformation and hate speech are also an increase in tension and starting ethnic divisions and fear,” he said.
The UN mission, which oversees about 18,000 peacekeeping forces in southern Sudan, has become involved in the intensive diploma of the shadow to try to prevent the return to the Civil War, Mr. Hays added.
In the meantime, Machar accused neighboring Uganda of violating the UN Arms embargo in southern Sudan by conducting air attacks in the country.
In a letter seen by the Reuters news agency and sent to the UN, the African Union and the Igad Regional Bloc, Machar said that the Uganda military intervention in southern Sudan had violated the peace agreement.
“Uganda forces are currently participating in air attacks against civilians in counties Nasir, Longuchuk and Ulang in the state of Gornje Nil, and the outer district in Jonglei,” it is said.
Earlier this month, Uganda said she had arranged troops in southern Sudan at the request of the Prime Minister Kiir, even though Juba denied it.
Additional BBC reporting Ashley Lime and Akis Wander.
