UN: Tens of thousands killed in South Sudan war - Al Jazeera English    var _sf_startpt=(new Date()).getTime()                                  {"URL": $("meta[property='og:internalurl']").attr('content').toString() ,"enabledProviders":"*"}     window.rsConf = {settings: {hlicon: 'iconoff'}};           (function(e,a){if(!a.__SV){var b=window;try{var c,l,i,j=b.location,g=j.hash;c=function(a,b){return(l=a.match(RegExp(b+"=([^&]*)")))?l[1]:null};g&&c(g,"state")&&(i=JSON.parse(decodeURIComponent(c(g,"state"))),"mpeditor"===i.action&&(b.sessionStorage.setItem("_mpcehash",g),history.replaceState(i.desiredHash||"",e.title,j.pathname+j.search)))}catch(m){}var k,h;window.mixpanel=a;a._i=[];a.init=function(b,c,f){function e(b,a){var c=a.split(".");2==c.length&&(b=b[c[0]],a=c[1]);b[a]=function(){b.push([a].concat(Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0)))}}var d=a;"undefined"!==typeof f?d=a[f]=[]:f="mixpanel";d.people=d.people||[];d.toString=function(b){var a="mixpanel";"mixpanel"!==f&&(a+="."+f);b||(a+=" (stub)");return a};d.people.toString=function(){return d.toString(1)+".people (stub)"};k="disable time_event track track_pageview track_links track_forms register register_once alias unregister identify name_tag set_config reset people.set people.set_once people.increment people.append people.union people.track_charge people.clear_charges people.delete_user".split(" "); for(h=0;h       #main-story p.meta { display: block!important; margin-bottom:-20px!important; } #main-story p.meta time { display: none; } #main-story p.meta, #main-story p.meta span { color: #fff!important; } #main-story p span.oryx-heading-profile:before { content: "By ";color: #000; } @media only screen and (max-width: 767px){ #main-story p.meta { margin-bottom:0px!important; }}                     Created with Sketch.             Watch Live                          Now Playing   Watch        Listen    TV Schedule        Live   submit         al jazeera menu      submit    NewsMore   Middle East Africa Asia US & Canada     Latin America Europe Asia Pacific     Middle East DocumentariesMore   Featured Documentaries Witness Al Jazeera World 101 East     People & Power Fault Lines Latin America Investigates REWIND All     ShowsMore   Inside Story The Stream The Listening Post Talk to Al Jazeera     Counting the Cost UpFront earthrise Empire All     Investigations Opinion MoreMore   Features In Pictures Interactive Interactive Documentaries     AJ Shorts Reporter's Notebook Podcasts Human Rights Sport Science & Technology Weather         Now: Turkey Russia Germany Syria's Civil War Battle for Aleppo            Most Searched

          googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-2'); });               War & ConflictUN: Tens of thousands killed in South Sudan war  As many as 50,000 have died in the two-year conflict, one official says, with violence continuing despite peace deal.  Fleur Launspach | 03 Mar 2016 12:40 GMT | War & Conflict, South Sudan, Riek Machar, Africa

 The war erupted amid a power struggle between President Kiir and his sacked deputy [Goran Tomasevic [Reuters]Tens of thousands of people have been killed in South Sudan's two-year civil war, the UN said, putting the death toll much higher than estimates by aid groups that operate in the country. 

  An unnamed UN official told news agencies that 50,000 have died in the conflict, which is a fivefold increase of the toll previously reported by humanitarian agencies.

 Fighting is still ongoing, despite a peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar signed in August last year.

 The two men's power struggle started in December 2013 and prompted a cycle of retaliatory killings along ethnic lines between Kiir's Dinka and Machar's Nuer people.

  READ MORE: Little to celebrate on South Sudan's fourth anniversary

  UN spokesperson Ariane Quentier in Juba told Al Jazeera that "tens of thousands" had been killed in the war but that the exact number was difficult to verify.

 "The country has hardly any roads and besides that moving around is very dangerous. It is impossible for anyone in or outside the country to have exact numbers," she said.

 The battle for control of South Sudan has repeatedly pushed the country to the brink of famine, with millions of people dependent on the UN and aid agencies. 

 In January, both sides of the conflict agreed to share positions in a transitional government, and in February Kiir reappointed Machar to his former post as vice president.

 But despite the reconciliatory rhetoric there have been multiple clashes in the past weeks, according to Quentier.

 Last month, the UN stated that South Sudan's warring parties were still killing, abducting and displacing civilians and destroying property. 

   READ MORE: Q&A; - the future peace in South Sudan

  Ahmed Soliman, a regional analyst at Chatham House in London, said there was a lot of undocumented killing going on. "Since the August agreement, fighting even occurred in new areas."

 "The UN is clearly not overseeing what is really happening on the ground. There is limited access, they are overstretched and mainly focusing on their camps," Soliman said. 

 "The actual amount of people suffering [in] this war is hard to tell," he added. "There are people dying of hunger and isolation in an attempt to flee the violence. To make a reasonable estimate of the people affected in the country is a very hard task right now."

 Currently the UN peacekeepers are sheltering nearly 200,000 people at six protection sites in South Sudan.

  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the leaders of South Sudan last month to respect the terms of a peace agreement that ended two years of civil war last year. 

Source: Al Jazeera

   RelatedSouth Sudan's Riek Machar wants 'power-sharing' deal In an exclusive interview, ex-vice president tells Al Jazeera he wants political arrangement with President Salva Kiir.

 War & Conflict, Africa, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir

Profile: South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar Former vice president was sacked by President Kiir in July and was later accused of orchestrating a coup attempt. 

 Politics, US & Canada, Kenya, Sudan, United States

    Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions. 

        MORE FROM AL JAZEERA Dodging death in East Aleppo as a journalist A trapped American journalist describes what it's like reporting from besieged East Aleppo. 

 Syria's Civil War, War & Conflict, Politics

  Route 66: Decay and resilience along iconic US highway A journey along the legendary Route 66 highway and the landmarks and controversies that made it iconic of the Southwest.

 Arts & Culture, United States, US & Canada

  A brief history of war and drugs: From Vikings to Nazis From World War II to Vietnam and Syria, drugs are often as much a part of conflict as bombs and bullets.

 Drugs, War & Conflict, Health

  Shock: The First Crusade and the Conquest of Jerusalem Background to the holy wars and the First Crusade's conquest of Jerusalem, a holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims.

 Religion, Christianity, Islam

      Related South Sudan's Riek Machar wants 'power-sharing' deal In an exclusive interview, ex-vice president tells Al Jazeera he wants political arrangement with President Salva Kiir.

 War & Conflict, Africa, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir

  Profile: South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar Former vice president was sacked by President Kiir in July and was later accused of orchestrating a coup attempt. 

 Politics, US & Canada, Kenya, Sudan, United States

  South Sudan: On the brink of collapse?      Latest News Russia joins probe into envoy assassination in Ankara Andrey Karlov was speaking at a photo exhibition in the capital when he was gunned down by a Turkish off-duty policeman.

 Murder, Turkey, Russia, Middle East

  Merkel: Berlin Christmas market carnage a terrorist act German chancellor says it's "sickening" suspect may be an asylum seeker, as calls for immigration reform grow louder.

 Angela Merkel, Germany, Europe

    Trending  Russian ambassador to Turkey assassinated in Ankara Russia joins probe into envoy assassination in Ankara Deadly Berlin truck incident a 'terrorist attack' The history of Hezbollah, from Israel to Syria The implications of Andrey Karlov assassination Man opens fire on praying Muslims in Switzerland Nepali girl banished to 'menstrual hut' dies AP photographer captures assassination of Russian envoy Gunfire in DRC's capital as tension grows over Kabila Truck ploughs into Christmas market in Berlin, 12 dead                            googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-1'); });      MUST-SEE PROGRAMMESWitnessSomething Better to Come: Life in a Garbage DumpYula grows up on Moscow's outskirts in the largest garbage dump in Europe. She has one dream - to lead a normal life.

Russia, Poverty & Development

The Listening PostSecrets and hacks: Russia's role in the US electionA look at how reporting Russia's role in the US election has turned political; plus, the Indian PM's monthly radio show.

Media, Russia, US Elections 2016

The Crusades: An Arab PerspectiveRevival: The Muslim Response to the CrusadesThis part of 'The Crusades: An Arab Perspective' explores the birth of the Muslim revival in the face of the Crusades.

Religion, Islam, Christianity

Talk to Al JazeeraQatari FM: The fall of Aleppo won't end the Syrian warQatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani discusses the Syrian war and the battle for Aleppo.

Qatar, Middle East, Battle for Aleppo

          

   News  Programmes  Opinion  About  Investigations  Contact Us  Video    Facebook  Twitter  Google+  RSS  Podcast  YouTube  SnapChat    © 2016 Al Jazeera Media Network

      About   About Us  Press Office  Awards  Code of Ethics  Terms and Conditions  Community Guidelines  Work for us     Connect   Contact Us  Apps  Social  Channel Finder  TV Schedule  Podcasts  Newsletter       Our Channels   AJ +  AJ Arabic  AJ Balkans  AJ Turk  AJ Mubasher  AJ Documentary     Our Network   AJ Human Rights Center  AJ Center for Studies  AJ Forum  AJ Training Center  AJ Film Festival  AJ Learning  AJ Hotel Partners              © 2016 Al Jazeera Media Network

               googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-0'); });        googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-1'); });     try { $('.topadcontainer').remove(); $('#topdivad').insertAfter('#oryxcontext'); document.getElementById("topdivad").style.display = "block"; if (document.getElementById("toprightlongad")!= null){ var RightDiv = document.getElementById("toprightlongad"); RightDiv.innerHTML = document.getElementById("rightlongad").innerHTML; document.getElementById("rightlongad").innerHTML = ""; } $('#div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-2').remove(); } catch(err) { }     googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1430377943388-3'); });        /* */             /* */