South Sudan crisis threatens to engulf region: UN

Renewed fighting in South Sudan risks spreading to the wider region against the backdrop of a worsening humanitarian situation, a senior UN official warned on Monday.

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The country, one of the poorest, has been gripped by renewed violent political instability as 7.7 million of South Sudan's roughly 12 million people faced high levels of food insecurity between April and July, the United Nations said.

With much of the population vulnerable to acute climate shocks and the impact of spillover from neighboring Sudan's conflict acutely felt, 83,000 people in South Sudan are at risk of “catastrophic conditions.”

“There is a concern that the current military posture and ongoing operations will spur more violence and exacerbate inter-communal conflict,” UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Pobee, told the Security Council.