Aid Group Raises Concern on South Sudan Violence

An international aid group says the increasing level of violence in South Sudan's Jonglei state is causing a humanitarian emergency.

Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders in a new report Tuesday says health facilities are being targeted in the violence caused by inter-communal cattle rustling, fighting between government and rebels and a government disarmament process.

The report says repeated and prolonged displacements have increased the population's risk of getting ill and insecurity has reduced their ability to access health centers.

The United Nations says more than 2,600 violence-related deaths were reported in Jonglei from January 2011 to September 2012, and account for more than half of reported deaths in South Sudan, a country that is emerging from the shambles of a decades-long war. Jonglei state covers northeastern South Sudan.