South Sudan: Entire Diocese Vacated: They ‘Ran for Their Lives’

Zenit: Entire swathes of a region in South Sudan have been abandoned by the local people who – according to their Church leader – have fled for their lives following a brutal attack carried out during a so-called ceasefire.

Monsignor Roko Taban, apostolic administrator of Malakal, told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that a mass evacuation had been carried out across parts of Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei States in the wake of violence involving rebel forces under Riek Machar, South Sudan’s former vice president.

Mgr. Taban reported that all his diocesan priests and women religious had fled south and were desperate to escape the violence which he stressed had continued despite last January’s ceasefire between the rebels and South Sudan government forces. More on this here.