On 20 and 21 April, a team of UN agencies and NGOs travelled to Bentiu, the capital of Unity State in the north of South Sudan. The town had been the scene of fighting between Government and opposition forces earlier in the week, and reports had emerged of that hundreds of civilians had been killed, many targeted based on their ethnicity or political affiliation.
In the town, the team found scores dead bodies scattered in the streets and piled up in the market. Streams of people were walking towards a nearby UN peacekeeping base, seeking refuge from attacks. The base is now home to over 22,000 people, up from 5,000 before the latest fighting.