BREADBASKET KILLINGS
Supplies of food in South Sudan cut
Access to food in Equatoria limited after combatants cut supplies, loot from markets and homes and target civilians
Juba — South Sudanese government forces and rebels used hunger as a weapon of war in a region once seen as the country’s breadbasket and now ravaged by killings, gang rapes and looting over the past year, Amnesty International said. Civilians’ access to food in the southern region of Equatoria, where conflict spread in July 2016, was "severely limited" after combatants cut supplies, looted from markets and homes and targeted civilians, the advocacy group said on Tuesday. It said fighters from each side accused civilians of feeding or being fed by the enemy. "It is a cruel tragedy of this war that South Sudan’s breadbasket — a region that a year ago could feed millions — has turned into treacherous killing fields that have forced close to a million to flee in search of safety," said Joanne Mariner, Amnesty’s senior crisis response adviser. Deputy army spokesman Santo Domic said the report had not been shared with the military and was biased. The civil war in South Sudan has left tens...
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