South Sudan’s army forced an estimated 100,000 people to flee across the border into Ethiopia after ordering the evacuation of the opposition-held town of Akobo earlier this month, Unicef said Tuesday.

The UN children’s agency said “violence and conflict are raging” across the state of Jonglei in South Sudan, creating a “deteriorating situation for children”.

“An estimated 100,000 people have crossed the border into Ethiopia, and others have moved to safer areas in Jonglei and Upper Nile states,” Unicef said in a statement, shared with news agencies on Tuesday.

“All those receiving treatment in Akobo hospital, previously a safe haven for the sick and injured, have left,” the statement continues. “Reports confirm that the hospital has been looted and is now closed.”

It added that rates of malnutrition among displaced children were “worryingly high”.

Twenty-eight health and nutrition facilities have been destroyed, looted or shut in Jonglei so far this year, at a time when the region is facing a cholera outbreak, the agency said.

Health, nutrition and clean water and sanitation supplies have been stolen in 17 incidents countrywide, 80 percent in Jonglei, and rates of malnutrition amongst displaced children are worryingly high – a quarter of all children under five are malnourished

Unicef in South Sudan has delivered 220 metric tons of supplies to displaced populations in some of the affected areas, access remains a challenge in some areas.

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