including "children, the elderly, and civilians" when they are deployed to opposition-held areas of the country. "Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians, including the most vulnerable, is utterly abhorrent and must stop now," said the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss). South Sudan's deputy army chief Gen Johnson Oluny made the call as he addressed his Agwelek militia as they prepared to be sent to parts of Jonglei state.Forces aligned to South Sudan's suspended Vice-President Riek Machar have captured several areas in recent weeks.

He is currently on trial on charges of murder, treason and crimes against humanity, which he denies. The military has ordered all civilians and personnel from the UN mission and all other aid agencies to evacuate three counties in Jonglei state ahead of an imminent operation against opposition forces. Last week, the chief of the defence force ordered troops deployed in the region to ''crush the rebellion'' within seven days. Oluny can be heard addressing his troops in a video posted on Facebook saying: "spare no-one - the elderly, children, birds or leave no house standing". The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (UNCHRSS) expressed "grave alarm" at the latest fighting in Jonglei state, north of the capital Juba, where witnesses have described civilians fleeing into swamps.

The UN says more than 180,000 people are believed to have been forced to flee their homes by escalating fighting. ''No senior political or military leader in Juba can claim to be unaware of the blatant public incitements to commit serious crimes in Jonglei,'' the UNCHRSS said in a statement issued on Sunday night in Geneva. (BBC)