The already alarming news from South Sudan grew even more worrisome Tuesday with word from the United Nations of mass graves.
In a statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said "we have discovered a mass grave in Bentiu, in Unity State, and there are reportedly at least two other mass graves in Juba," the new nation's capital.
Reuters reports that the site in Unity State contains "some 75 bodies." According to the BBC, a journalist in Juba "quoted witnesses as saying more than 200 people, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group, were shot by security forces."
NPR's Gregory Warner, who is in Juba, said Tuesday on Morning Edition that "people are starting to ask who their neighbors are" and whether they are from a tribe they can trust. There are fears, he said, that if people in the 2 1/2 year old nation "retreat into tribalism ... then this country could ignite into civil war."
Already in recent days, as we've reported, there have been hundreds or more people killed and thousands more forced to flee their homes. There's a power struggle underway between forces loyal to President Salva Kir and those who support the recently ousted vice president, Riak Machar.
An army commander who recently defected and reportedly sides with Machar, Gen. Peter Gadet, has said his forces will "march on Juba" within days, Gregory adds. Whether Gadet has the resources to do that is unknown. Gadet's forces are believed to have fired on three U.S. military aircraft making evacuation flights earlier this week.
Despite all the bad news, Gregory says there have been some positive signs in the past day as well. President Kir, he notes, has said he's willing to hold "unconditional talks" with Machar.