The head of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Monday urged South Sudanese to transcend ethnic divisions and build a national identity in the aftermath of intensified ethnic targeted killings.
“South Sudanese should unite in working toward creating the national identity of this country. I thought you fought for years for one independent country and not 64 independent countries,” UNMISS chief Ellen Margrethe Loej told journalists in Juba in her last press briefing.
Loej also expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation in the greater part of Equatoria region where the government troops are battling the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO) led by ousted First Vice President Riek Machar.
South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his then deputy Riek Machar of plotting to overthrow his government, accusations that Machar refuted, but went on to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
On Friday, South Sudan accepted the deployment of the much-awaited 4,000 strong Regional Protection Force (RPF) without conditions in the aftermath of the UN Security Council resolution.
