Aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) complained today that the population in Leer “continues to live in fear of rape, looting and violence” after at least four incidents of violence so far this month.
In the most recent incident on Monday, 27 people fled to the MSF compound seeking shelter as their houses were looted by a group of men carrying guns.
Much of the civilian population of Leer town has not returned to live in the town but has fled to outlying parts of the county, to the UN protection site in Bentiu or elsewhere. South Sudanese government forces control the town but the rest of Leer County is controlled by SPLM-IO.
Jens Pagotto, MSF emergency coordinator in Leer county said, “In the evening of March 14, the MSF teams could hear screaming coming from the village. Then, suddenly, the MSF teams saw civilians running in our direction. They were running for their lives.”
MSF says at least one person was killed in another incident of looting earlier this month and in another incident two women were raped and one patient was brought to the MSF Hospital in Leer to be treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
“The security situation for the people living in Leer remains desperate, with increasingly regular instances of armed robbery, violent attacks and sexual violence against women,” says Pagotto.
MSF is calling on local authorities to take immediate action to ensure protection of civilians in Leer and other conflict affected areas of South Sudan.
File photo/Al Jazeera: South Sudan government soldiers in Koch, Unity state, in 2015
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