A South Sudanese Anglican Bishop
has accused government soldiers of raping women and young girls. The Rt Revd Paul Yugusuk, of the Anglican Diocese of Lomega, quoted by local media, says he's met several women who claim they were raped by government troops.
"We do not know the exact number of women who were raped but we have five women and girls here in Juba Teaching Hospital," he told reporters after visiting the victims earlier this week. "Most of them are underage girls and women."
Bishop Paul also says 46 men have been detained and tortured of which four are still imprisoned with their whereabouts unknown.
He claims the sexual assaults and kidnaps happened on a road linking the capital Juba with Nimule, a South Sudanese town bordering Uganda.
A nearby village was also looted with the majority of civilians fleeing according to the bishop.
The country is currently gripped in fighting between forces loyal to the President, Salva Kiir, and those loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar.
The UN and the Christian churches in South Sudan have been expressing increasing concern that violence is mounting along ethnic lines.
A senior official of SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) has recently resigned accusing President Kiir of ethnic cleansing against those who do not belong to his ethnic group.