The United Nations Security Council (Photo: Reuters)
The UN Security Council on Wednesday imposed sanctions on six commanders from South Sudan, the first to be blacklisted in the war-torn country.
Britain, France and the United States had requested that the six -- three from the government forces and three from the rebels -- be subject to a global travel ban and an assets freeze for their role in the conflict.
From the government side, the three are: Major General Marial Chanuong Yol Mangok, commander of President Salva Kiir's presidential guard; Lieutenant General Gabriel Jok Riak, whose forces are fighting in Unity State; and Major General Santino Deng Wol, who led an offensive through Unity State in May in which children, women and old men were killed.
From the rebels, the sanctions target Major General Simon Gatwech Dual, chief of the general staff, Major General James Koang Chuol, who led attacks in Upper Nile State and General Peter Gadet, the rebels' deputy chief of staff for operations.
The six were the first to be targeted by a newly formed UN sanctions committee formed after the Security Council, frustrated by the failure of successive ceasefires, agreed to punish those deemed responsible for the violence.
"As the members of the Security Council demonstrated today, those who commit atrocities and undermine peace will face consequences," US Ambassador Samantha Power said in a statement.
Power called on both sides to "put aside their self-serving ambitions, end the fighting, and engage in negotiations to establish a transitional government" and warned that additional sanctions could be imposed.
South Sudan has been torn by fighting since December 2013 between forces loyal to Kiir and rebels allied with his former deputy, Riek Machar.
The world's newest nation is now in the throes of a dire humanitarian crisis, with more than 2.5 million people facing severe food shortages and two million driven from their homes.
A recent report by the UN mission in South Sudan described horrific violence in the latest fighting in Unity state, where witnesses said the army gang-raped girls and torched them alive in huts.
At least seven ceasefires have been signed and broken during successive rounds of talks.
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