US sanctions anger South Sudan

South Sudan said it is dismayed by the US decision to impose sanctions on three current and former officials.

The sanctions included a travel ban and freezing of assets tied to the US financial system.

Following that move, Juba summoned the US chargé d'affaires to explain the rationale behind the move.

The foreign ministry said the sanctions would not help in pacifying the east African country.

"There is no evidence that any of the three sanctioned officials blocked peace, and I challenge anybody to bring that evidence. These were people conducting or performing their duties in whatever assignment they were doing", Bak Valentino Akol, the undersecretary of South Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.

The government has officially handed over a protest letter about the sanctions to US officials in Juba.

Nine military and political leaders from both sides of the conflict in South Sudan have been sanctioned since war broke out in 2013.

(CGTN)