Fighting in Upper Nile State forces thousands of civilians to flee their homes.

The United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday that violence in South Sudan's Greater Upper Nile Region has forced thousands of civilians to flee in recent weeks, with some resorting to hiding in bushes.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 9,000 people have been displaced since the outbreak of an armed conflict between factions in the Upper Nile's village of Tonga in mid-November, which spread to northern parts of Jonglei and Unity states. 

UN Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Peter Van der Auweraert, expressed that the humanitarian community in South Sudan is "appalled by the continuous violence that has a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary women, men and children."

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 20,000 people have fled the Greater Upper Nile Region since August, including 3,000 who crossed the border into neighboring Sudan.

The UNHCR indicated that "women, children, and others at high risk, make up the majority of the displaced," adding that those who could not escape, such as the elderly, took refuge in bushes and on the banks of the White Nile River.

The refugee agency said a protection camp in nearby Malakal was overwhelmed with new arrivals. The camp was established a decade ago to house 12,000 people, but it currently houses 37,000.

Survivors told UNHCR that dozens were killed or injured, while others drowned in the river while trying to escape.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) had appealed to government forces stationed in the town of Kodok to intervene and stop the escalation of violence.

On Wednesday, the office of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir claimed the President is determined to do whatever it takes to end the violence in Upper Nile and other areas of South Sudan.

It is noteworthy that in early November, UN relief organizations sounded the alarm that some 7.8 million people in South Sudan are at risk of severe famine, due to the country's long conflict, floods, and drought.

Last September, about 173 civilians were killed and 37 were kidnapped within four months in southern Sudan in fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and those loyal to Vice President Riek Machar, according to the UN, which also condemned many cases of sexual violence at the time.

South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, but it slid into a civil war two years later that left nearly 400,000 people dead.

Despite the signing of a peace agreement in 2018, sporadic acts of violence continued between the government and opposition forces, in addition to conflicts between ethnic groups in the country, which cause heavy casualties among civilians.