UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has been reporting escalating intercommunal violence, cattle raids and aerial bombardment in the country's Upper Nile State, a UN spokesperson said Friday.

The incidents in Ulang and Baliet counties of the Upper Nile State, according to local authorities, have caused multiple casualties, impacting women and children, and displaced around 12,000 people, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, at a daily briefing.

The United Nations is "deeply concerned by the rising violence in Upper Nile State," Dujarric told reporters. In response, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan deployed a patrol to Baliet this week, where peacekeepers engaged with local officials and provided emergency medical assistance, he said. ■