JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The death toll from clashes between internally displaced people at a UN site in South Sudan has risen to more than 20, with more than 50 others injured, it said on Friday. the medical charity MSF.
The statement from the organization, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said two of its staff were among the injured. Some of the injured were airlifted to the capital, Juba.
“While the situation was relatively calm this morning, many women and children who fled the camp have not yet returned for fear of an escalation,” said Luz Linares, MSF head of mission in the country.
Thursday’s clashes in Malakal camp were between members of the Shilluk and Nuer ethnic groups, a local representative of the displaced people told The Associated Press. The UN office in South Sudan said the fighting started with a stabbing and that its mission had reinforced the military and police presence in the area in “close collaboration” with the army and the authorities of Sudan from South.
Deadly violence between ethnic groups and communities still plagues South Sudan years after a 2018 peace deal aimed at ending a five-year civil war. During the conflict, thousands of people took refuge in UN protection sites.
More than 41,000 people are staying at the Malakal site, which is also a designated camp for people fleeing violence in neighboring Sudan, MSF said.