UN says that South Sudanese rebels killed, raped civilians during an attack in October

December 20, 2014-Khartoum-SudaneseOnline -United Nations disclosed that South Sudan rebels killed, raped and kidnapped civilians during an attack in October, leaving at least 11 dead.
In a report reveled on Sunday said that fighters backing former vice president Riek Machar attacked the oil-rich town of Bentiu near the border with Sudan on October 29 and “killed at least 11 civilians and committed other serious human rights abuses
The UN Mission in South Sudan also said it had “received testimony from multiple sources alleging that opposition forces abducted and raped female residents of Bentiu after government troops withdrew from some parts of the city during the afternoon of 29 October 2014.”
“According to several witnesses, two women and a six-month-old baby were killed in their homes by opposition forces,” said the report, compiled after an investigation by the UN mission’s human rights division.
“According to its preliminary findings (opposition) forces committed gross human rights abuses and serious violations of international humanitarian law which may amount to war crimes.”
Bentiu has been hotly contested between the two sides and its control has changed hands several times.
The International Crisis Group estimates that at least 50,000 people have been killed, while some diplomats suggest the death toll could be double that figure.
Peace talks aimed at ending South Sudan’s civil war resumed in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, with mediators making a fresh appeal for an end to a “year of horror and tragedy”.