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U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon condemns S. Sudan, rebel forces for stealing humanitarian aid

January 15, 2014
(AP-Yonhap) U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sits inside a tent belonging to a Syrian family at a refugee camp in Irbil, 350 kilometers north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday. Ban expressed his deep sadness over the suffering and the hard conditions the refugees are living in. The Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011, has killed more than 120,000 people, forced more than 2 million to flee the country and devastated the nation's cities, economy and social fabric.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sits inside a tent belonging to a Syrian family at a refugee camp in Irbil, 350 kilometers north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday. Ban expressed his deep sadness over the suffering and the hard conditions the refugees are living in. The Syrian conflict, which began in March 2011, has killed more than 120,000 people, forced more than 2 million to flee the country and devastated the nation’s cities, economy and social fabric. (AP)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday strongly condemned the commandeering of humanitarian vehicles and the theft of food and other desperately needed aid by government and anti-government forces in violence-torn South Sudan.

In a statement, Mr. Ban said that he is “alarmed by the rising number of fatalities resulting from the continuing fighting in South Sudan”. He also noted reports received on 14 January of about 200 people civilians who had drowned in the Nile River while fleeing hostilities in Malakal in the Upper Nile State.

Mr. Ban also expressed deep concern about the rising number of displaced people in the country, which surpassed 400,000, according to UN figures, since the conflict erupted on 15 December between President Salva Kiir’s forces and those of former deputy president Riek Machar.

He also reiterated that the people responsible for attacks against civilians, humanitarian workers and UN personnel will be held to account.