A church official in a remote South Sudan town says more than 50 people have been killed in fighting between government troops and a new rebel group.
Moses Peter, humanitarian coordinator of the Caritas Diocese of Wau, said Wednesday he had seen 50 bodies at a local mortuary and there is “the smell of dead bodies” in residential areas.
Wau is located about 650 kilometers northwest of South Sudan’s capital, Juba.
Peter said thousands of people are sheltering at church compounds, aid group sites and the local U.N. peacekeeping base.
South Sudan’s government said Tuesday that a new rebel group had formed against the government, only months after the leader of another rebel group signed a peace deal to end a civil war.
