Ceasefire monitors sent to South Sudan by the East African regional body the Inter-Government Authority on Development (IGAD) will investigate the latest violence in Bor, Bentiu and elsewhere, according to IGAD.
Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary of IGAD, has condemned the killings carried out in Bentiu and Bor. He referred to the massacre at the Bentiu mosque and the attack on the camp of displaced people at the UN base in Bor.
In a statement he said, “These incidents constitute a grave violation of the commitment by the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) and the SPLM/A (in Opposition) to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement that was signed on 23 January 2014 under the auspices of the IGAD-led Mediation Process, and can only serve to undermine the ongoing peace process.”
The official “called on the Parties to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into these incidents by the IGAD Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM).”
Maalim further “calls on the international community to act now to put pressure on both parties to stop the war and prevent a deeper catastrophe from unfolding in South Sudan,” reads the statement.