UN, April 24 (RAPSI) – The UN Security Council adopted a press statement on Thursday demanding that the South Sudanese government prosecute those who were responsible for the death of civilians in the oil-producing town of Bentiu.

Mass violence in Bentiu on April 14-16 resulted in the death of over 200 men, women and children.

The Security Council members requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to immediately undertake an investigation mission focused on events in Bentiu.
The massacre happened after government troops lost control of the country’s richest oil region, Al Wahdah. Bentiu was first seized by rebels in December 2013, but they ceded control of the city to government forces a month later.

Armed unrest involving army units that consisted of men from various tribes broke out in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, in December 2013. Clashes were also later reported in other regions. President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar managed to negotiate a truce. In early January 2014, the sides officially began direct peace talks in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011, after over 98% of the locals voted for secession in a referendum in January.