Top of the Morning: Cholera Strikes South Sudan

Top stories from DAWNS Digest

Cholera Strikes South Sudan…This could get very, very bad. The country is already on the verge of a famine and in the middle of civil conflict. WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said on Monday nine people were believed to have died of cholera, which can kill in days if not treated. An estimated 138 had been registered so far in and around Juba.A WHO spokeswoman in Juba told Reuters by phone: “The outbreak has just started and it’s spreading…Although they are not confirmed, we’ve got reports that other people in other areas are equally affected, so it is certainly spreading.” Deeper Dive: Reuters http://bit.ly/1kidkdX

Is Libya on the Verge of a Civil War? A renegade general is on the march, and an elite unit of Libya’s armed forces has joined his cause. “It remains unclear how many troops support Haftar, whose forces launched an attack on Islamist militants in Benghazi on Friday in which more than 70 people died. Militiamen apparently allied to Haftar also stormed parliament in Tripoli on Sunday.The violence has compounded government’s apparent weakness in combating militias which helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority. ‘We are with Haftar,’ Special Forces Commander Wanis Bukhamada told Reuters in the eastern city of Benghazi. On live television he had earlier announced his forces would join “Operation Dignity”, as Haftar calls his campaign.”