The East African regional bloc Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has condemned the new wave of fighting between rival forces in South Sudan as fears of a possible return to civil war increase.
The situation in the world’s youngest nation escalated in July following five days of heavy gun-fight in Juba between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former first vice president Riek Machar.
IGAD in a statement said that fighting would not solve the country’s pressing political and economic challenges.
“It (fighting) will only increase the suffering of South Sudan’s people, worsen a grave humanitarian crisis, and further inflame ethnic tensions,” said the IGAD statement released in Juba on Friday.
The body called upon both sides to stick to the peace deal signed last year and engage in peaceful dialogue.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million displaced since civil war erupted between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to Machar in December 2013.
