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Thousands thought dead amid South Sudan unrest

He said the 15-member council encouraged countries in the region to prepare to send additional troops in the event the Security Council decides to boost the strength of the almost 13,500-strong United Nations force.

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City residents hunkered down or began fleeing their homes as the United Nations reported the use of mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and “heavy ground assault weaponry”.

An outbreak of violence in South Sudan overshadowed the nation’s fifth anniversary of independence this weekend, as more than 200 people were reportedly killed in fighting between forces aligned with President Salva Kiir and rival Vice President Riek Machar.

The US said anyone impeding efforts to end the fighting would be held fully accountable.

“We desperately need attack helicopters and other material to fulfill our mandate to protect civilians”, Ban said.

Two Chinese UN peacekeepers and one South Sudanese UN worker were among the hundreds of dead.

“We join the worldwide community in expressing our deep concerns at the recent outbreak of violence between Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and SPLA in Opposition (SPLA-IO) which resulted in the loss of lives in the country”.

Observers say it is clear that the peace deal concluded last August between the two main factions is only holding “by a thread”. Both leaders had called for calm last Friday, but the fighting carried on.

“UNMISS compounds are caught directly between the fighting and continue to sustain impacts from small arms and heavy weapons fire”, UNMISS said in a statement.

The Security Council on Sunday pressed South Sudan’s neighbours to help end the renewed fighting by offering extra peacekeepers.

Machar, who is now the country’s first vice president under a fragile peace deal, also said he was still in South Sudan but would not elaborate.

Makuei added that the government now has no intention to accuse any neighboring country, yet he blamed Riek Machar forces of causing chaos in South Sudan.

On Monday afternoon, an army spokesman told the BBC that soldiers loyal to Mr Kiir had been ordered back to barracks.

The fighting in Juba severely threatened a peace deal signed a year ago between Kiir and Machar that brought them and their supporters into a transitional coalition government in April.

The latest fighting has awakened fears that South Sudan’s other ethnic groups will be drawn in. He lost his products when the civil war began.

Civil war erupted in South Sudan in December 2013 when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup.

The civil war, which broke out in December 2013 after Kiir sacked Machar, killed thousands of people, drove more than 2.5 million people from their homes and left nearly half the nation of 11 million struggling to find enough food.

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What can the worldwide community do?

Heavy fighting in South Sudan risks return to civil war