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South Sudan's government asks civilians to leave north as fighting escalates
South Sudan's president Salva Kiir (left) and vice-president Riek Machar (right) shake hands after meetings in Juba, South Sudan, on October 20, 2019

SOUTH SUDAN’S government asked civilians to leave a northern area on Monday a day after the military bombed an armed group accused of overrunning a military base and attacking a United Nations helicopter.

The group’s attacks in Nasir County have threatened a peace deal signed in 2018 by President Salva Kiir and his rival-turned-vice-president, Riek Machar, that ended a five-year civil war during which over 400,000 people were killed.

Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told journalists that any civilian refusing to leave declared military zones “will be treated accordingly.”

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