South Sudan blames fighting in neighboring Sudan and attacks in the Red Sea for its crisis

By DENG MACHOL
Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan’s government is blaming the country’s economic crisis in part on fighting in neighboring Sudan and the instability in the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking international shipping. Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters on Tuesday that these factors are blocking South Sudan’s oil exports — the country’s main source of revenue. He also said oil wells that were water-logged by heavy floods over the past rainy season are not yet fully operational. The minister said the low levels of productivity have been compounded by the fact that the pipeline taking South Sudan’s crude through Sudan to its main Red Sea hub, Port Sudan, has been blocked in areas where there is fighting.