South Sudan forces suffocated people in shipping container: Amnesty International

A human rights group says it has uncovered evidence that South Sudanese Government forces deliberately suffocated more than 60 men and boys in a shipping container.

Amnesty International said the forces then dumped the bodies in a field in Leer Town, Unity State.

The United Nations has also accused the government troops of deliberately killing and raping civilians, reports CNN.

The government denies its army targeted civilians, but says it is investigating the matter.

Researchers from Amnesty International said they had found the remains of skeletons from the killings, which are said to have taken place last October.

Amnesty researchers interviewed more than 42 witnesses, including 23 people who said they saw the men and boys being forced into a shipping container and later saw their bodies either being removed or at a mass burial site.

Witnesses described hearing the detainees screaming and banging on the walls of the shipping container, which they said had no windows or other form of ventilation.

Relatives of the victims told Amnesty that the victims were cattle keepers, traders and students, not fighters.