South Sudan troops remove civilians from Wau-based church

“Civilians seeking refuge in the UN compound in the city of Wau.” Photo: UN/Getty Images/File

Juba, May 5, 2017 (SSNA) — South Sudanese government forces have removed at least 5,000 civilians from the Episcopal Church of South Sudan of Wau, Archbishop Moses Deng Bol told The Associated Press.

Another church leader told AP that a combination of troops and national security agents forcibly removed civilians who had been sheltering in a church and forced them into government vehicles.

One visibly frightening civilian from nearby UN compound also told the South Sudan News Agency that government is kidnapping people every day and that disappearances have become part of life in Wau. She said she managed to leave the church on Monday, adding “thank God I am here [UN base].

Armed militias and troops besieged Wau town last month and carried out ‘ethnic killings’.