South Sudan president says soldiers who rape should be shot

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir attends the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and the Government of the African Union in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

JUBA (Reuters) - The president of South Sudan said on Monday that soldiers who rape civilians should be shot, trying to mollify citizens outraged by abuses by security forces and quell growing international anger over attacks.

South Sudan was plunged into a sporadic civil war in 2013 when Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired his deputy, an ethnic Nuer. Rights groups and U.N. monitors say soldiers have gang-raped women based on their ethnicity. A few rapes by rebels have also been reported.