The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is leaving the country at a time that the country is experiencing heavy fighting and therefore also, the time that the war victims need them most.
The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has been handy in the warry situation in South Sudan, Africa’s youngest nation which only got its independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011.
With what started as leadership wrangles between South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir and the rebel leader Riek Machar, finally escalating into the now Africa’s deadliest fighting, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was commissioned by the United Nations as a peacekeeping force for the young nation.
And now, UNMISS has expressed concern that their personnel are also targets of the fighters and therefore they say they have decided to vacate the warring grounds with utmost speed.
This could mean that over 300,000 civilians have consequently been left without ready aid in the heavy fighting.
According to intelligence experts, the evacuation means that apart from the regular attacks by gunmen, the war victims face an even more serious threat of starvation and succumbence to injuries and other ailments, with lack of ready aid.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has also, alongside the United Nations, withdrawn staff from most parts of South Sudan owing to the violence, which could be termed as one of the worst in months.
The escalating fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar has led to the deaths of tens of thousands as millions flee the country to seek refuge in the neighbouring countries.
