South Sudan president says soldiers who rape should be shot

President Salva Kiir (Photo: Courtesy)

Juba: The president of South Sudan said on Monday that soldiers who rape civilians should be shot, trying to mollify citizens outraged by abuses by security forces and quell growing international anger over attacks.

South Sudan was plunged into a sporadic civil war in 2013 when Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, an ethnic Nuer. Rights groups and UN monitors say soldiers have gang-raped women based on their ethnicity. A few rapes by rebels have also been reported.