The United Kingdom has accused South Sudanese government of pursuing a ‘scorched-earth policy’, saying killings in South Sudan amount to genocide and called on African leaders to involve to end the carnages.
The announcement comes just two days after government troops and militias carried out targeted killings in Wau.
“There are massacres taking place, people’s throats are being slit … villages are being burnt out, there’s a scorched-earth policy,” UK’s Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel, was quoted as saying.
“It is tribal, it is absolutely tribal, so on that basis it is genocide,” she declared.
Patel, who met South Sudanese President Kiir on Tuesday, revealed that she told Kiir to stop aid blockage and accused Juba of using food as a weapon of war. She warned that ‘the international community will undertake consequences’ if Kiir’s refuses to stop the blockage.
Patel also blasted African leaders for not doing enough to pressure Kiir’s government.
“Why are they not standing up for the people that are being massacred … who are their fellow African brothers and sisters? African heads of state … they need to do a lot more and they should not just rely on others in the international community,” she protested.
Reports of targeted killings have risen this year after South Sudanese government has been accused of pursuing ethnic killings in Equatoria region.
Britain is probably the first country to describe killings in South Sudan as genocide. The UN has previously warned of a ‘Rwanda-like genocide.’
