South Sudan President Salva Kiir’s government is using food as a weapon of war to target civilians by blocking life-saving aid in some areas, United Nations sanctions monitors told the Security Council in a confidential report seen by Reuters on Friday. “The government has during much of 2017 deliberately prevented life-saving food assistance from reaching some citizens,” the monitors wrote. South Sudan’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the UN report. South Sudan spiralled into civil war in late 2013, two years after gaining independence from Sudan, and a third of the 12 million population has fled their homes. The United Nations has warned that the violence in South Sudan was providing “fertile ground” for a genocide.

Source: Hindustan Times November 11, 2017 10:52 UTC