Nine girls seeking refuge at Christ the King Church in Malakal were raped during the recent recapture of the town by opposition forces, the Catholic Radio Network reported on Saturday.

Fighters loyal to Riek Machar took over Malakal on 18 February and have been implicated in a number of crimes committed in the town since then, including violence at churches, hospitals and outside the UN base in the town.

The Catholic news service, citing the director of Voice of Love radio station, Elena Balatti, who arrived from Malakal to Juba on Thursday, reported “a large number of people took refuge at the church to find security, but the fierce fighters could not spare the holy place.”

Balatti stated that Malakal was an empty, devastated town, and lamented that rape seems to have become a tool of war.

She added that more than 40 percent of the town was burnt beyond recognition during the last two months of the ongoing conflict. She said dead bodies were still lying around without burial, being fed on by vultures and dogs.

MSF reported on Wednesday that gunmen also raped women and girls at a hospital on 19 February. The medical organization said first they “shot dead people who had no money or mobile phones to hand over.”

Returning to the hospital later that afternoon they “killed patients in their beds and others who had fled to the operating theatre for safety, according to survivor testimonies. They also reportedly raped women and young girls.”

Photo: Women displaced by the fighting in South Sudan hug each other (Reuters/Andreea Campeanu)