Patients die as South Sudan fighting forces medics to flee

A dozen patients have died and dozens more wounded are without care in a South Sudanese hospital after fighting forced medics to flee, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday.

At least 12 patients have died, while at least 40 wounded or sick are in need of help in the hospital at Kodok in the war-torn northern state of Upper Nile, the ICRC said.

The ICRC team of five medics -- who normally provide up to 700 consultations a week -- left after the fighting on July 5 and are now in the capital Juba until security improves.

"The hospital is virtually empty of any qualified personnel to provide quality care at a time when it is most needed," said ICRC aid worker Konrad Bark, who was forced to leave. "The situation has gone from bad to worse."

The hospital was also damaged in the fighting between rebel and government troops.

The deaths are the latest in a long list of atrocities that include girls being gang raped by soldiers then burned alive, boys castrated, and the recruitment of armies of child fighters. Hospitals have been deliberately targeted in the war.

- Cholera outbreak kills 44 -

The world's newest nation was thrust into turmoil 18 months ago when President Salva Kiir accused former vice president Riek Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the poverty-stricken country along ethnic and tribal lines.

On Thursday, as the country celebrated its fourth year of independence from Sudan, the United States said that "Kiir and Riek Machar and their cronies are personally responsible for this new war and self-inflicted disaster."

National Security Advisor Susan Rice warned the US and international community would "punish those determined to drive South Sudan into the abyss."

Last week, the UN Security Council imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on six commanders -- three from the government side and three rebels.

But three of those named had already been slapped with European Union and United States sanctions that have failed to stem the violence, as asset freezes and travel bans mean little to battlefield commanders.

South Sudan is also struggling to contain a cholera outbreak, with the World Health Organization saying Friday at least 44 people had died, among a total of 792 cases from May, updating a previous toll of 29 at beginning of July.

The outbreak is believed to have begun in early June in crowded UN bases in the capital Juba and then spread to other parts of the city.

Over 150,000 people have sought shelter in UN camps across the country, too terrified to venture out for fear of being killed.

No official death toll has been kept in the conflict.

In November 2014, the International Crisis Group think tank estimated that as many as 50,000 had died, but killing has continued unabated in the meantime, while hunger and disease have added even more to the toll.
Source: AFP