Mobile network shut down as fighting intensifies in South Sudan

The government of South Sudan said last week that it would temporarily shut down the mobile phone network in Upper Nile, as fighting in the northeastern border state between rebels and troops loyal to President Salva Kiir continues. The Sudan Tribune cites a statement by presidential spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny as saying that mobile phone service had been cut ‘for security purposes’ in all parts of the state except Renk and Paloch. The key oil city of Malakal in Upper Nile has been a major battleground since violence erupted between government troops and rebel forces in the capital last month.