- published: 20 Dec 2013
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For more Latest and Breaking News Headlines SUBSCRIBE to https://www.youtube.com/user/ZakWorldNEWS Three UN peacekeepers from India killed in South Sudan violence Less than three years after its creation, the world's newest country is beginning to fracture along ethnic lines in violence that has killed hundreds of people, including three UN peacekeepers. What could come next, some warn, is ethnic cleansing. South Sudan's numerous ethnic groups have battled each other for decades, but for years their animosity was united in hatred of the government in Khartoum, Sudan, the country's former capital. When the south gained independence in 2011, the groups' common enemy receded, exposing the fault lines - this week, even among the presidential guard. On Thursday, armed youths breached a UN compound in Jonglei state, causing an unknown number of casualties. "Unfortunately, just this very morning such militia groups have targeted and killed three soldiers from India in South Sudan," India's UN Ambassador Asoke Mukerji told a UN meeting on peacekeeping Thursday evening. It was the first announcement of UN personnel killed in this week's upsurge of violence. Pakistan's UN Ambassador Masood Khan asked for a minute of silence, and diplomats rose to pay tribute to the fallen soldiers. In the capital, Juba, emergency evacuation flights took away American and British citizens, aid workers and United Nations personnel to escape the violence. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon again urged political dialogue. "The future of this young nation requires its current leadership to do everything possible to prevent South Sudan descending into the chaos that would be such a betrayal of the ideals behind its long struggle for independence," a statement from his office said late Thursday. South Sudan's government declared that its security forces "are in absolute control of the situation," but admitted later Thursday that the central government had lost control of Bor, the capital of the country's largest and most populous state, where barrages of gunfire were reported. "The situation in South Sudan can be best described as tense and fragile. If it is not contained, it could lead to ethnic cleansing," said Choul Laam, a top official with the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, who spoke in Nairobi, Kenya. Violence broke out late Sunday when the presidential guard splintered along ethnic lines. Guards from the president's majority Dinka tribe tried to disarm guards from the Nuer ethnic group, said Laam. Violence in Juba spiraled from there, and then extended out into the country. "The awful accounts of killings in Juba may only be the tip of the iceberg," said Daniel Bekele of Human Rights Watch. "Government officials - whatever their politics - need to take urgent steps to prevent further abuses against civilians and quickly deescalate rising ethnic tensions." President Salva Kiir earlier said an attempted coup had triggered the violence, and the blame was placed on ousted Vice President Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer. Machar disputed Kiir's allegations that he had attempted a coup, but said he wants Kiir out of power. "We want him to leave. We want him to leave. That's it," Machar told Radio France Internationale. "He can't unite the people and he kills them like flies." TAGS abc breaking news, bbc, bbc football, bbc iplayer, bbc news, bbc news america, bbc persian, bbc sport, bbc weather, bbc world news, breaking celebrity news, breaking election news, breaking late news, breaking local news, breaking music news, breaking news, breaking news alerts, breaking news canada, breaking news headlines, breaking news in atlanta, breaking news in nigeria, breaking news india, breaking news pensacola florida, breaking news plane crash, breaking news story, breaking sports news, business expensive news home media world, christian world news, cnn, cnn breaking news, cnn money, cnn news, cnn news breaking news, cnn news world, detroit breaking news, global news, headline, headline news, health care technology news, hot latest global news, internet technology news, las vegas breaking news, latest breaking news, latest celebrity news, latest information technology news, latest music news, latest news, latest news headlines, latest news update, latest sports news, live breaking news, local breaking news, local news today, msn breaking news, nbc breaking news, nbc world news, news of the world, news report us world, news today news, news updated daily, solar technology news, sports news today, technology news, the latest news, today news, us news and world, us news and world report, us news and world report magazine, us news and world report web site, us news world report, world news, world news daily, world news headlines