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Dozens killed as violence flares in Wau, South Sudan
Dozens of people have been killed and more than 120,000 displaced from their homes in a wave of fighting in Wau, one of South Sudan's largest cities
According to estimates from OCHA, almost 50,000 people have been displaced within Wau
Almost a year after a peace agreement was signed to bring an end to civil war in the country, clashes between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and members of the Fertit tribe began on 24 June.
The SPLA is predominantly made up members of the Dinka tribe, the largest in the country.
At least 43 people were killed in the fighting, according to a government statement on 28 June.
However no independent count of casualties has been done, and the actual figure could be much higher than the government estimate, Al Jazeera reports.
The UN Security Council has called on the government to prosecute those responsible for the violence in Wau.
"Attacks against civilians may constitute war crimes and those involved could be potentially subject to sanctions," a statement by the UN said.
According to estimates from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), almost 50,000 people have been displaced within the city.
St Mary's Cathedral is providing shelter to 10,000 people who fled the fighting, and more than 12,000 people are living in cramped conditions and without shelter on a site adjacent to the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan base in the town.
Two local schools are accommodating at least another 17,000 people, and two other churches are each providing shelter for 1,000 Wau residents, according to OCHA.
Several thousand have also sought refuge at the South Sudan Red Cross (SSRC). "We provided rations for 5,200 people in the first 48 hours, and have supplemented this with another 4,500 rations," said Layal Horanieh, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Juba, which is supporting the SSRC.
"It's just an office compound - it's not designed to be a shelter for people. It's one of many gathering points that formed across the town."
Although calm has been restored in Wau, an atmosphere of lawlessness prevails, says Natale. "The Dinka youths are looting people's houses and taking everything they have. All the residential areas in the south and west of Wau are empty."
