Thousands flee fighting in South Sudan, aid groups withdraw

Juba: Tens of thousands of people have fled fierce fighting in South Sudan's northern Unity State and humanitarian organizations have withdrawn staff from the area, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other groups said on Saturday.

A political crisis in South Sudan in late 2013 sparked fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebels allied with his former deputy Riek Machar. The conflict in the world's youngest country reopened ethnic fault lines that pit Kiir's Dinka people against Machar's ethnic Nuer forces.