United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling on the U.N. Security Council to stop the flow of arms to South Sudan, warning of the possibility of genocide.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: “The Security Council must take steps to stem the flow of arms to South Sudan, as well as send a clear warning that hate speech, incitement and violence must end and that there will be accountability for mass atrocities and other crimes. If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory toward mass atrocities. Its people will be the target of those atrocities, while they pin their hopes on the international community, in general, and the Security Council.”

South Sudan is the world’s youngest country. The United States backed South Sudan’s independence in 2011 and the country’s president, Salva Kiir, whose troops are now accused of carrying out the majority of the crimes in the ongoing civil war.