South Sudan Security Update: 20 December 2013

On Thursday, attackers stormed a United Nations base, where civilians had taken refuge, in South Sudan.  According to officials, two Indian peacekeepers were killed, with many others feared dead.

United Nations deputy spokesman Farhan Haq reported that officials at the UN had lost contact with the base at Akobo in Jonglei state and that the fate of more than thirty ethnic Dinka civilians sheltering there was also unknown.  UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson, who strongly condemned the attack, stated “we have received reports of people killed and injured and are in the process of verifying.”

India’s UN ambassador Asoke Mukerji confirmed that two Indian peacekeepers were “targeted and killed” in the assault on Akobo.  An injured Indian soldier was taken to hospital.  A minute’s silence for the soldiers was held at a UN meeting on peacekeeping in New York.  UN deputy spokesman Haq further noted that forty other Indian peacekeepers, along with six UN police advisors, were moved to safety at a nearby South Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) camp.  The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) will send sixty reinforcements and aircraft in order to pick up the peacekeepers however they are not scheduled to arrive in Akobo until Friday as it is difficult to get to.  The latest attack was reportedly carried out by ethnic Nuer youths.

In the wake of this recent attack, the UN Security Council called emergency consultations to occur on Friday as the crisis in South Sudan, where hundreds have been killed this week in battles between President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, continues to mount. A statement released by a spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon indicated that the UN leader was “appalled” by the attack on Akobo.  The statement added that if reports of civilian deaths were confirmed, “those responsible must be held accountable for their crimes.”  Ban also noted “the future of this young nation requires its current leadership to do everything possible to prevent South Sudan descending into the chaos that would be such a betrayal of the ideals behind its long struggle for independence.”

Meanwhile in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state, officials have indicated that UN forces are protecting 1,000 civilians who have gathered around a base.  They are also protecting the Bor airstrip.  Bor fell to Riek Machar’s forces on Wednesday.

Since clashes between rival factions of the army erupted on Sunday, hundreds of people have been killed in the capital city Juba.  UN deputy spokesman Haq indicated on Thursday that there were unconfirmed reports of several students killed by security forces at Juba University.  According to a spokesman for the university, several hundred students have stayed on the university campus and have requested protection from UN forces.   Between 2,000 and 5,000 civilians have also gathered at the Kator complex in Juba.  They have also requested help from the UNMISS mission.  In turn, more than 15,000 people have sought shelter at two UN and one World Food Programme (WFP) compounds in Juba.