South Sudan Agrees to Ceasefire to End Violence – Ethiopia and Kenya support Kiir

December 27, 2013, Nairobi (All Africa) — South Sudan’s government on Friday has agreed to a ceasefire in a bid to end fighting that swept across Africa’s newest nation that has left at least 1,000 people dead and led more than 60,000 civilians to seek refuge at U.N. bases.

A spokesman for South Sudan’s foreign ministry, Mawien Makol Arik told VOA the government’s ceasefire will begin immediately. Arik says Vice President Riek Machar, the leader of the rebellion, has three days to respond to the ceasefire call.

The development came as regional leaders meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Friday as part of the regional grouping IGAD urged both sides in the conflict to seize “the small window of opportunity” and begin peace talks.

At the same time the leaders said they would not accept the “unconstitutional overthrow” of South Sudan’s government.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir got a boost on Friday after government forces defeated rebels loyal to his former deputy, Machar in Malakal, the capital of South Sudan’s major oil producing state of Upper Nile, after four days of heavy fighting.

Spokesman Arik confirmed the development and said government forces are prepared to defend themselves if attacked.

A communiqué issued at the conclusion of the summit called for “urgent measures in pursuit of an inclusive dialogue” and said face-to-face talks between the stakeholders in South Sudan’s crisis should occur by Tuesday, December 31.

It also welcomed a commitment by South Sudan’s government to end hostilities and called for former South Sudan vice president Machar and other parties to do the same.

Violence erupted in the country on December 15 and has spread across the country as a power struggle between President Salva Kiir and Machar, his main political rival, has intensified.

The fighting has divided the military against itself in some areas, and has raised inter-ethnic tensions.

Both Machar and Kiir have agreed in principle to holding talks, though the government has rejected Machar’s conditions, including the release of his political allies who were jailed in the early days of the crisis.

In a speech at the summit, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said efforts should be made to include the detained political leaders.

“The detainees are part of South Sudan’s leadership and as such are part of the solution. South Sudan’s legal system must process them as it should while they are treated humanely and quickly enabled to be an integral part of the dialogue that will solve the underlying political problems that have brought us to this unfortunate crisis,” Kenyatta said.

Kiir has accused Machar and his supporters of attempting a coup. Machar denies the allegations, but has called for the military to overthrow the president.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, the current chair of IGAD, told the summit that authority in the country lies with the president.

“It should be underscored that the legitimate government of South Sudan under President Salva Kiir Mayardit is the duly elected representative of the people of South Sudan and it has every responsibility to restore peace and stability throughout the country,” he said.

Kenyatta and Hailemariam met with Kiir in Juba Thursday to discuss the prospect of talks. Kiir was not present at Friday’s summit.

Source: All Africa

Freedom is never given voluntarily, it has always been earned

By Ibrahim Amae Elemo, M.D., M.P.H | December 27, 2013

Dear Friends and Colleagues, Obboleeyyan Oromoo akkam jirtu, nageennii isan badhaadhaa:

The bigotry against the Oromo people continues unabated to date. It is an established historical fact that the Oromo people, the Somali and other peoples of the South were conquered and incorporated into the Abyssinian Empire at the end of 19^th century through an earth scorching policy and savagery of Menelik’s army supported by western powers such as the Great Britain and France. Twenty years ago we were close to defeating the remnants of the genocidal regime of Menelik and Haile Selassie had it not been for the voice of moderation by some politicians in the Oromo Liberation camp. Back then some of the Oromo elites wanted to give peace a chance, wanted to negotiate with the colonial settlers. They chose the path of peace and reconciliation. We recall the famous saying of Leenco Lata, “I am not an Ethiopian. However, I would like to negotiate to be an Ethiopian”. The answer to that offer from these remnants twenty years later is the formation of the revivalist groups who are planning to tour Oromiya to dance on the graves of the millions of Oromo martyrs and other peoples of the South who were brutally massacred while defending their homeland. The aftermath of the conquest was what we now know as one of the worst slave trade empire built by Menelik. I can hardly imagine the extent of the brutality when hundreds of thousands of Oromo children were taken way from under the arms of their loving parents and sold into slavery; tragically, several of whom died en route owing to harsh conditions. These were a people, reduced in to slavery and tenancy, were once the master of their own destiny and produced to the world a civilization superior to the Abyssinian civilization in East Africa.  This is also an established historical fact.

Today, many Oromo scholars, including myself, are profoundly enraged by a decision of a beer company to sponsor a singer that diminished the memory of the victims by glorifying the legacy of one of the worst tyrants of the modern Ethiopian empire into the Abyssinian hall of fame. This may cause the buried emotions of the Oromo nationalists to re-emerge again. There are millions out there, including myself, are willing to lead the Oromo people to a full victory through a well-controlled and disciplined struggle. We don’t like to see bloodshed between the oppressor class and oppressed masses, like what we have witnessed in Rwanda. The unwise campaign of these ignorant, never learning and unrepentant sons of our colonial masters may lead to undesired consequences. This is our worst fear. We remember what Dr. Gamachu Magarsa recently said when he was asked about his take on the Oromo people being bullied by the northern “superior race” of Ethiopia from one generation to another. He said “what will happen may not be good for them and for us as well”. That is the voice of moderation we hear from some of our elites. Even these very elites who are working to prevent the worst case scenario from happening are despised and bullied non-stop by the Abyssinian chauvinists.

Freedom is never voluntarily given. It has always been earned! Which means we Oromos must be willing to pay the necessary sacrifice to earn what all people love, cherish and celebrate every year, Freedom! Talking about earning what you deserve, I always remember what I told one of the college professors on the occasion of my graduation from Gondar College of Medical Sciences after I was suspended and penalized for a year and half for leading students’ protest against the current regime in Ethiopia. She said, “Congratulations Dr. Ibrahim, we have given you your degree and now you are ready to leave us”. I then boldly told her “Dear Dr. Thank you for congratulating me.  You may have given others their degrees. But, as far as I am concerned, I earned it.”  Just to distinguish myself from others who bowed to the puppets and all bullies in order to graduate from college with a degree. I was willing to pay the utmost price, and I knew I was not alone. I knew there were millions who suffered and continued to suffer.  They needed me more than I needed my very much desired degree, they needed us. The purpose of this short piece is to show our ignorant brothers in the opposite camp that they must cease and desist from their provocative actions. That is precisely what most of us want in this counter-campaign.  Or else, they are responsible for all the consequences of their campaign to re-conquer Oromiya.

Last but not least, it is worth mentioning the fact that judging by their past rhetoric the forces currently ruling Ethiopia may not be on the side of these sycophants who are so blind as to see the irreversible change of the mind sets of the oppressed masses of Ethiopia. Finally, I would like to conclude by using the words I used to love hearing from the mouth of my late Somali friend, Abdida’ad Ibrahim Bulala, whom I proudly call my Oromo friend, , Egereen kan Ummata Oromooti!

Ibrahim Amae Elemo, M.D., M.P.H

Tedy is a modern Minelik II weapon to wage genocide against Oromo

Itana Guteta |  26 Dec 2013

Oromo have their own country Oromia

Oromia is Oromo country annexed by Abyssinian- the modern Ethiopia in 1890s. The Abyssinia got help from supper power of that time: USA, Russia, France, and Italy. Since then, Oromo people have been struggling in different ways to get back their country. Thus, about 45000 Oromo political prisoners are serving in Abyssinian colonial jail as Dr. Troman reported.

When Oromo activists claim their God given rights, the Habasha ( Abyssinian) defile the name of Oromo activists as narrow nationalists or extremists. I can take the current ongoing debate about Tedy, the Habasha musician who supported the genocide made by Menelik II whose target was to demolish the Oromo from the face of the earth. Tedy said that the war Minelik waged against Oromo people which resulted in 5 millions of death of Oromo heroes and heroines is holy war. But Oromo human rights activists like Jawar Muhammad, Abdi Fixe, Garsuu Tufa and others are seen as extremists and condemned as Anti-unity by colonizers ( Abyssinian).

By the way, what is extremism? Is it speaking true history or denying it?, If exposing what the colonizers did unto the oppressed is extremism, then, what do we call those who label such exposes as “extremist”? However, you like it or not, you will go no where with such a medieval mindset. I would like to inform you that Oromo people is ready more than ever to pay all the sacrifice to reestablish Oromia, to clean Finfinnee that your ancestors defiled since they annexed it. I hope that as Oromo is people of “safu” means respect, we will offer Abyssinian equal rights and equal opportunities to live in Oromia. I swear you that Oromo people will not avenge you, but what they need is freed Oromia. Be that as it may, know that, there is no place for subduing Oromo and their country Oromia under your colonial power. To wrap it up, what the Oromo heroes and heroines human rights activist said is incredibly true: Tedy is recognizing the genocide against millions of Oromo is holy war. On top of that, if Tedy believes that such inhuman act is a holy war, the historical memory directly goes to religion which in Abyssinian cases reflects on the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. I will not go deep now, I will come back to it.

When we- Oormo talk about Tedy we are not arguing the that Tedy represent Oromo. For that matter, Oromo have never ever accepted Tedy as our friend or as he represent us in any ways. What we are talking is simple. Tedy clearly showed us that he is our enemy reconsigning what Minelik II has done. Otherwise both Tedy and Minelik II are our enemies from 1890s. Minelik can be a hero for Habasha- Abyssinian because he build the country in which they are enjoying higher standard life by selling land of thousands of Oromo farmer by evicting them. So they can celebrate him. The TPLF should know that Oromo people have a goal of restablishing Oromia, the country destroyed by Minelik II .

Sadly, the owner of Bedele Beer sponsored Tedy to prepare concert in the big city of Oromia, Finfinnee. Politically, this concert is going to be held in memory of Menelik II who massacred 5 million Oromo. This can be easily deduced from Tedy’s speech. Thus it would be surprising if Oromo tolerate, allow him to accomplish this mission without confrontation. It will be bad memory in Oromo history if any attend this concert Oromo which is prepared to humiliate Oromo dignity. Once again, I urge Oromo people not sell, buy and drink Bedele Beer. In addition, it is pivotal to take legitimate action against Habasha workers at this company in Oromia, to remove them from our country. Indeed, it the time to remove the termite- Habasha not only from Bedele Beer company but also from nervy corner of Oromia.

In addition, OPDO also know that this is true thus why many of them were thrown into jail in Ethiopian empire.

Above all, I would like urge every able bodied Oromo: intellectuals, farther, businessmen, students, OLF guerrilla arm group, all Oromo citizen in Oromia and around the globe to continue to fight for their legitimate rights to set free their human resource and natural resource from Ethiopian colonial rule.

Itana can be contacted at itanaguteta@gmail.com

Ethiopia Swamped by Tidal Wave of Returned Migrants

ADDIS ABABA, Dec 25 2013 (IPS) – The return of 120,000 young undocumented migrant workers from Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia has sparked fears that the influx will worsen the country’s high youth unemployment and put pressure on access to increasingly scarce land.

As a result, a growing number of young Ethiopians are choosing to migrate to Sudan to circumvent an indefinite travel ban slapped by the Ethiopian government last month on Ethiopian workers traveling to Middle Eastern countries.

Esther Negash, 28, is from a family of nine that lives on a four-hectare farm dedicated to growing maize in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. She has been out of work since leaving school 10 years ago.

Negash’s family recently decided to use their savings to fund her migration to Khartoum in search of employment.

“In the last two months, there have been many people returning from Saudi Arabia. This makes things worse for people like me who cannot find work,” she told IPS.

“The rains were short this year and we did not have a good harvest. My family is large, if we don’t get a good harvest then it is very difficult. We heard about work opportunities in Sudan and thought this was our only solution.”

A large number of Ethiopians migrate every year in search of brighter economic prospects, with the Middle East being the dominant destination.

“I was forced to work seven days a week, 20 hours a day. I was not allowed to leave the house. It was hell.” — A 23-year-old woman who just returned from Riyadh 

Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on undocumented foreign workers began after a seven-month amnesty period expired on Nov. 3. Since then, 120,000 Ethiopian migrants have been repatriated to Ethiopia after being corralled in a deportation camp for two months, where conditions are reportedly abject.

Many Ethiopians have reported human rights violations at the hands of their employers as well as while under the control of security forces inside the camps.

IPS spoke to a 23-year-old woman who had just arrived in Ethiopia after working as a domestic in Riyadh for two years. Her account is similar to many other experiences narrated by returnees.

“My employer would sexually abuse me and beat me. I was forced to work seven days a week, 20 hours a day. I was not allowed to leave the house. It was hell,” she said.

“They did not pay me for one year even though I worked also for their relatives. I am so tired and so sad. [But] I am so happy to be back in Ethiopia,” she told IPS.

Despite the many terrible experiences recounted by Ethiopian returnees, poverty and limited economic prospects will continue to force Ethiopian workers to migrate to countries like Sudan and overseas, says the International Labour Organisation, which is working to make regular migration methods more attractive for Ethiopians instead of using unaccountable and illegal brokers to facilitate their migration.

“After the ban, people will try any means possible to work abroad due to a lack of employment opportunities in their home country,” George Okutho, director of the ILO Country Office for Ethiopia and Somalia, told IPS.

“These returnees travelled to Saudi Arabia looking for economic opportunities with a greener pasture mindset in the hope that they could send their family remittances to raise living standards at home. However, most of the time migrant workers are acting on misinformation about the prospects and country of destination,” he said.

A lack of education and skills make Ethiopian migrants especially vulnerable to working in dangerous and exploitative working conditions, both at home and abroad, said Okutho.

“The problem is many of Ethiopia’s migrant workers are uneducated and ill-eqipped even for the domestic work they seek outside the country,” he said. “The result is that even if they go to the Middle East or Sudan, they can earn a little more than when at home, but because they are untrained they end up working in very extreme and difficult circumstances without knowing their rights. “

The Ethiopian government’s planning and logistical capacity has been overwhelmed by the rapidly rising number of returnees. An initial expectation of 23,000 returnees jumped to 120,000 in one month.

“We are engaged with the Saudi government and we are working hard to return Ethiopians stranded in Saudi Arabia,” Dina Mufti, foreign affairs spokesperson, told IPS.

“The number of Ethiopians working illegally is much higher than we anticipated. The Ethiopian government recognises that these people will need employment and so we are trying to create opportunities to assist these people, many of them young, and rehabilitate them back into their communities,” she said.

Dwindling land access in Ethiopia is a critical issue for 80 percent of the population who make a living as small farmers. In the mountainous region of Tigray, the average land availability per household is 3.5 ha.

As life expectancy increases, the potential for subdividing farm plots reduces, leaving many of Ethiopia’s youth food insecure and unemployed.

In the last year, a large number of young people have joined regular protests staged in the country’s main cities to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with high unemployment and inflation.

The inundation of over 120,000 people has the potential to further disenfranchise youth in Ethiopia, where the majority of the population of 91 million earn less than two dollars a day.

Hewete Haile, 18, lives outside Sero Tabia, a small town where youth unemployment is spiraling. Out of 2,200 households, 560 young people between 17 and 35 are unemployed, without access to land or income.

Outside the Sudanese embassy in Addis Ababa, Haile is queuing with several hundred other young girls, mostly from remote rural villages, in hopes of obtaining a visa to allow her to look for work in Khartoum.

Hewete’s friends say a domestic in Khartoum is paid eight dollars a day compared to four dollars in Addis Ababa.

“I would not be leaving my country if there was a way for me to work and make a good income here in my country,” she told IPS.

“If Sudan does not work out then I will travel from there to the Middle East. I know what happened in Saudi Arabia. I would not be leaving Ethiopia if I could get work here, but it is getting more difficult all the time,” she said.

Source: IPS

Diddaa Uummatni Oromoo Godina Gujii saaminsa warqee dura dhaabbataniin wal qabatee hojjettootni 3000 ol tahan hojii dhaabuun shira wayyaanee fashalsan

Muddee 26,2013

Diddaan mootummaa wayyaanee irratti gaggeeffamu daran jabaachaa dhufe. Godina Gujii Oomisha Warqee Adoolaatti ilmaan Oromoo saaminsa qabeenyaa fi lafa Oromiyaa dura dhaabbachuun saaminsa mootummaan wayyaanee gaggeessaa jirtu dura dhaabbachuu irratti argamu. Haala kanaanis hojjettootni baasa warqee irratti bobbaan diddaa kanaan wal qabachuun 3000 ol tahan hojii kan dhaaban yoommuu tahu mootummaan wayyaanee hojiitti hin deebitan taanaan miindaan jiaa isinii hin kaffalamu jechuun doorsisa jabaa gaggeessaa jira. Diddaa kana dura dhaabbachuufis wayyaaneen Ilmaan Oromoo isintu kana qindeessa jechuun doorsisa jabaa gaggeessaa jira. Sabboonaan Oromoo Dambii Qumbii jedhamus darara mootummaa wayyaanee kana keessatti argama. Mootummaan wayyaanee shira kamuu gaggeessus qabeenya keenya hin laannu jechuun Uummatni Oromoo diina dura dhaabbachuu irratti argama.

Miniliik…..bofa gurraacha !

Hawwii Caalaa irraa | Mudde 24, 2013

Seenaan daawitii dha dhalotaan ilaalama
Hojiin gaarii darbe ittiin yaadatama
Jiruun hawaasa tokko ittin madaalama
Yaadannoo dha seenaan yoom irraanfatamaa

Seenaan utubaa dha;utubaa jireenyaa
Bu`uura sabaati;hin qabu fakkeenyaa
Seenaan galaana;bal`aa dha keessi isaa
Gargar kan hin baafne soreessa fi hiyyeessa

Kan gaarii hojjate seenaan isa kaasa
Hin dagatamu yoomu ni himama waa`en isaa
Dhalonni ittin boona ol qabe maqaa isaa
Hojjatee waan darbeef hojii gammachisaa

Seenaa maali qaba kan gaarii hin hojjanne
Saba midhuu malee kan bu`aa hin buufne
Abbaa irree ta`e ummata gadi cabsee
Murna tokko olkaasee kaan gad-deebisee
Ofiin sanyii rabbii jedhee of moggaasee
Kaanin gadi cabsuun bineessaan qixxessee

Jara kanneen keessaa Miniliik isa tokko
Oromoo kan saaxilee gadadoo fi rakkoo
Gara-jabeessa inni hin qabu namummaa
Hameenya yoo ta`e malee hin beeku gaarummaa
Ummata koo nagaa waamee manaa baasee
Dhiraa fi dubartii hiriira qabsiisee
Gara-jabeessa ta`u isaa ifatti kan mul`isee
Harmaa fi harka saba koo dabareen cirsiise

Dhala namaa miti inni waraabessa
Bifaa fi amalaan kan ta`e fokkisaa
Oromoo kan nyaate sababa tokko malee
Godaannisa qabna kan Calanqoof Annolee

Ta`ee otoo jiru Miniliik bofa hamaa
Dhiiga Oromoo kan xuuxe sanyii abaaramaa
Har`a maaltu dhufnaan maaliif yaadatamaa
Madaan inni nutti fide yoom fayye haga ammaa

Lamuu hin deebi`u Miniliik darbeera
Lukkeewwan akka isaa kumaatamaan horeera
Hojii isaa kaleessaa akka gaaritti kaasu
Motii gurraacha jechuun maqaa itti moggaasu

Oromoon damaqeera lamuu hin gowwamu
Bofa dhiiga xuxuun motii jedhee hin waamu
Seenaa irraa barannee waan baayyee hubachaa
Nuti immoo jenneerra Miniilik bofa gurraachaa!
Hawi Chala

Thousands dead in South Sudan violence, UN says

The BBC’s James Copnall explains the fighting gripping the world’s newest state, South Sudan – in 60 seconds

December 24, 2013 (BBC) — Thousands of people must have been killed in the past week of violence in South Sudan, the top UN humanitarian co-ordinator there has told the BBC.

Toby Lanzer, who is in Bentiu in northern Unity state, said it had been “a devastating week for South Sudan”.

Earlier President Salva Kiir said his forces had recaptured the key town of Bor days after it was seized by rebels.

The rebels are led by Riek Machar, of the ethnic Nuer, who has been battling President Kiir, of the Dinka.

The UN earlier said that it had reports of at least three mass graves.

One was in Bentiu in the north, and two in the capital, Juba.

‘Palpable fear’

Mr Lanzer told the BBC’s Newshour programme: “I think it’s undeniable at this stage that there must have been thousands of people who have lost their lives.

“When I’ve looked at the hospitals in key towns and I’ve looked at the hospitals in the capital itself, the range of injuries, this is no longer a situation where we can merely say it’s hundreds of people who’ve lost their lives.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said: “There is a palpable fear among civilians of both Dinka and Nuer backgrounds that they will be killed on the basis of their ethnicity.”

The UN says at least 80,000 people have been displaced by the South Sudan crisis – about half of them seeking shelter at a number of UN bases.

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Dec 24, 2013 (CNN) – U.S. Marines stood by to help evacuate Americans in South Sudan as the top U.N. official there warned Tuesday of a “breakdown in respect for the most basic rights of people” amid the country’s widening military and humanitarian crisis.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Toby Lanzer tweeted that more accounts were reaching him of human rights abuses amid widening violence that has stoked fears of an all-out civil war in the world’s newest country.

In Geneva, Switzerland, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called human rights abuses in the country a “serious and growing” problem.

“Mass extrajudicial killings, the targeting of individuals on the basis of their ethnicity and arbitrary detentions have been documented in recent days,” Pillay said, according to the statement. “We have discovered a mass grave in Bentiu, in Unity State, and there are reportedly at least two other mass graves in Juba.”

One U.N. official saw 14 bodies at the mass grave in Bentiu and another 20 on a nearby riverbank, said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the commissioner.

“As for the other two reported graves in Juba, we are still working to verify but it is very difficult, and there are reports that some bodies may have already been burned,” she said.

South Sudan’s breathtaking descent into widespread conflict comes a little more than two years after the nation was ushered into existence with help from international powers after decades of civil war between separatists in the oil-rich south and Sudan’s northern government.

Fighting began midmonth after President Salva Kiir said forces loyal to the country’s dismissed vice president, Riek Machar, launched a coup attempt. Kiir and Machar are longtime rivals.

Machar denied there was a coup attempt in an interview with CNN.

South Sudan has suffered from sporadic violence since its formation in 2011.

But the broad nature of this conflict and the intensity of the violence — which U.N. officials say has taken on ethnic overtones — has raised fears of another genocide along the lines of Rwanda, the African nation where 800,000 people were slaughtered in 1994, according to the United Nations.

As the U.N. Security Council prepared to meet to discuss Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call to reinforce the agency’s peacekeeping force in South Sudan, about 150 U.S. Marines waited in Djibouti, hundreds of miles east of South Sudan.

Marines on standby

They flew in from a base in Spain to await possible orders to enter South Sudan and help evacuate Americans who remained behind after a U.S.-led evacuation transported more than 300 U.S. citizens out of the country.

In a statement, the U.S. military’s Africa Command said Monday it was positioning the Marines to be able to respond should conditions deteriorate even more. The decision grew out of the U.S. experience in Benghazi, Libya, where an attack last year killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. No U.S. forces were close enough to respond quickly.

“One of the lessons learned from the tragic events in Benghazi was that we needed to be better postured, in order to respond to developing or crisis situations, if needed. These precautionary movements will allow us to do just that,” the command said in its statement.

According to a senior administration official, 380 Americans and about another 300 third-country nationals have been evacuated.

“Based on registration, there are American citizens in other towns and areas throughout South Sudan. We are trying to track down how many may still be there. Many may have gotten out on their own. We are trying to track that down,” the official said.

On Sunday, all Americans who showed up at the U.N. camp in the flashpoint town of Bor were evacuated safely, the State Department said. A State Department official said about 15 Americans were flown out Sunday. U.N. civilian staff were moved from a compound in Bor to Juba, the capital, on Saturday.

“The U.S. government is doing everything possible to ensure the safety and security of United States citizens in South Sudan,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on Sunday. “We are working with our allies around the world to connect with and evacuate U.S. citizens as quickly and safely as possible.”

Continued fighting

Sudanese forces retook Bor after a nearly six-hour fight Tuesday, Defense Minister Kuol Manyang Juuk said Tuesday.

Sudanese military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer also predicted Tuesday that government forces would soon recapture the oil-rich Unity state.

Government forces and opposition fighters also clashed Tuesday in Malakal, he said.

The United Nations said fighting had spread to five of South Sudan’s 10 states.

It described the situation in Juba as “stable but tense,” but said conditions in Jonglei were deteriorating, with reports of clashes between armed factions near Bor, the site of a U.N. peacekeeping base. Conditions were also tense in Bentiu, where the United Nations reported military units on the move amid sporadic fighting.

The United Nations also said it had credible reports civilians were being attacked and killed based on their ethnicity, and reported that private property and the facilities of some humanitarian groups were being looted.

Humanitarian concerns

Meanwhile, U.N. officials struggled to make accommodations for some 45,000 people crowding its compounds seeking shelter from the violence. Nearly as many people were seeking shelter elsewhere.

U.N. officials said they have concerns about health conditions among those fleeing the fighting and urged assistance for medical care and other needs.

The U.N.’s Lanzer, who visited the base in Bor on Monday, said in a statement he had heard “heartbreaking accounts of people’s suffering.”

Ban, who is seeking to increase the 6,800-strong U.N. force in South Sudan by another 5,500, said Monday the agency will do its utmost to protect civilians.

“The U.N. stood with you on your road to independence,” Ban said in a message to the people of South Sudan. “We will stay with you now. I know that the current situation is causing great and growing fear. You are seeing people leave the country amid increasing chaos. The U.N. will stay with you.”

Diplomatic efforts

Secretary of State John Kerry has spoken with Machar in a bid to get talks started between the former vice president and the government, a senior State Department official told CNN.

“He urged him to implement a cease-fire and begin mediated political talks,” the official said.

The European Union’s foreign affairs minister, Catherine Ashton, said the violence threatens to send South Sudan “spiralling into a disaster for both its own people and the region.”

“Such a situation can, and must be avoided,” she said in a statement.

As Ban did Monday, she called for all sides to begin talks to resolve their differences.

“This dialogue must include all groups, including those whose leaders are currently imprisoned and those in revolt against the government,” she said. “The use of force will achieve nothing, and all must use their influence to immediately cease hostilities and prevent further fighting which will only cause the further shedding of innocent blood.”