Sri Lanka to evacuate its nationals from South Sudan

Sri Lanka has decided to evacuate some 75 migrant workers from South Sudan and said no new workers will be deployed in the politically troubled country.

"At the moment we are working with the Sri Lankan embassy in Egypt to track down and return Sri Lankans working in South Sudan. The external affairs ministry is also assisting us in this matter," Xinhua quoted foreign employment bureau spokesman M. Randeniya as saying Monday.

Families of people working in South Sudan have also been requested to notify their kin to return home by obtaining assistance from the Sri Lankan government, he added.

Violent clashes erupted in South Sudan Dec 15 between two military factions, one descending from the Dinka tribe to which President Salva Kiir Mayardit belongs, and the other descending from the Nuer tribe, to which former vice president Riek Machar belongs.

Machar is accused of plotting to topple the government.

The violence has spread from the South Sudan capital, Juba, where some 500 people are believed to have been killed, to other parts of the country.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other international leaders have demanded that South Sudan's political and military leaders immediately end all hostilities and stop targeted attacks on civilians.

The US Monday deployed 46 additional military personnel in South Sudan and President Barack Obama said his government may take further military action to support the security of its citizens in the country.