No one knows for certain exactly what happened. We do know that hundreds of people are murdered or missing, that security forces have disappeared from the area and hundreds of homes destroyed, the hospital has been raided with patients shot in their beds, and corpses line the streets of Malakal, the capital of oil producing Upper Nile state in South Sudan.

“There is no humanity here,” said Col. Jan Hoff, an officer in Norway’s army who has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, according to a report from USA News.

He arrived with a heavily armed group from the UN that entered the city on Wednesday. They made their way to what remained of the hospital, counting the dead as they proceeded. Horrified, they were met with executed patients, supplies ransacked and flies everywhere as the stench of death hung in the air.

South Sudan became the newest nation on earth just 31 months ago. As the new country emerged, the old politics remained instrumental in forming what would become an intense struggle for control. The government of President Salva Kiir and rebel groups loosely aligned behind sacked former vice president Riek Machar are in an all-out war, with civilians being disregarded by both. On January 23, a ceasefire was supposedly agreed to by both parties at peace talks in neighboring Ethiopia. The ceasefire was supposed to end more than a month of violence that left over 10,000 dead and another 800,000 people displaced. Most of the killing has been done by one ethnic group attacking another. South Sudan has 8 different ethnic tribes within its population of 9 million.

In a in-depth report, Time reveals before and after images of the destruction in Malakal. The amazing images and detailed report are worth your time to explore, review and absorb. The technology used for their report is a story within itself. They report, “The Satellite Sentinel Project is a joint venture comprising the Enough Project, the humanitarian group Not On Our Watch—co-founded by actor George Clooney—and the private satellite imagery vendor DigitalGlobe, which captures the images and provides analysis.” To view their images and coverage, click this link.

With wars brewing and civilians fleeing the area, concern now rises as to spring planting in the area. Without areas normally used for agriculture being prepared for growing, the threat of famine looms. People are running for their lives, not planting crops.

Any nation’s ruler, past or present, that would permit the murder and persecution of citizens to regain or retain power deserves nothing less than trial for crimes against humanity. Reminiscent of the Anfal genocides 26 years ago, the extermination of people in South Sudan must be stopped. We rise to support those who can accomplish this.