UN deploys troops as communal clashes kill 79 in S. Sudan

The United Nations deployed troops in South Sudan to deter further violence between communities after the renewed clashes killed some 80 people, a UN official said on Tuesday.

David Shearer, the special representative of the secretary-general and head of UN mission in South Sudan, said in a statement 75 Nepali peacekeepers will patrol the northern Lakes region in the coming weeks to provide a "protective presence."

The move came after the recent communal clashes left 79 dead and 101 others injured in the region.

“We are urging the communities involved and their leaders to put an end to the violence and to come together in reconciliation and peace for the good of their people,” he stressed.

The statement noted that the UN mission also deploying heavy equipment, including vehicles, to enable the peacekeepers to travel more easily between the remote communities.

While political violence has largely subsided in South Sudan since the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in September 2018, intercommunal clashes continue to result in the killing and injuring of civilians, cattle raiding and the looting of property.