U.S. journalist killed in South Sudan

An American freelance journalist was killed during Saturday clashes between government troops and rebels in South Sudan, officials confirmed. Christopher Allen, 28, had embedded with the rebels on a two-week mission. A deputy spokesman for the opposition, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, said Allen and two other journalists had joined them in Kampala, Uganda. Gabriel said the rebel forces had launched a coordinated attack on several towns along the Ugandan border. Allen died in the crossfire near the town of Kaya. Military spokesman Santo Domic Chol told Reuters that Allen was one of about 19 people who died in the clashes. The U.S. Embassy in South Sudan and the U.S. State Department both confirmed Allen’s death and said his family had been notified. South Sudan’s civil war, which began in 2013, has now displaced more than 3 million people.