US deploys troops to South Sudan to protect embassy
US President Barack Obama is sending 47 troops to war-ravaged South Sudan, citing protection of the US embassy.
The announcement was made in a letter that Obama wrote to the US Congress, released by the White House on Wednesday.
"Although equipped for combat, these additional personnel are deployed for the purpose of protecting US citizens and property," wrote the US commander-in-chief.
Apart from the 47, 130 others are positioned in nearby Djibouti and ready to be dispatched if necessary.
The deployment came after the warring sides, supporters of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebels backing his deputy, Riek Machar, reached a shaky ceasefire on Monday, which has reportedly been holding so far.
On Wednesday, Machar's spokesman James Gatdet Dak said the vice president withdrew his troops to the outskirts of Juba, assuring, however, that he was not planning for war.
According to the United Nations, about 36,000 people fled their homes during the latest fighting in Juba, with 7,000 of them taking refuge at its compounds.
Thousands of South Sudanese fleeing the violence were, meanwhile, clamoring to cross the border into Uganda.
"We remain very worried about the potential for the resumption of violence and spill-over into other parts of the country, as we have seen in the past," UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the Security Council.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) also called on “all armed parties to ensure safe passage for people fleeing the fighting
“UNHCR is also worried about the situation of some 9,000 urban refugees, who have told UNHCR about their security concerns as well as difficulties in getting food and water,” it said in a statement on its website.
The German government has also begun to evacuate German nationals from Juba.
A bloody civil war in South Sudan began in December 2013, when Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of plotting a coup against him. The two parties then got involved in a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the impoverished country along ethnic lines.
Thousands of people have been killed and more than three million forced to flee their homes in the war. Nearly five million people are in need of food to survive a famine in South Sudan.
The two sides eventually signed an agreement in August last year to bring the conflict to an end. As part of the deal, Machar returned to Juba in April to take up the post of vice president in a national unity government. Despite the peace deal, battles persist across the African state.
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