**The attack comes amid ongoing violence in Upper Nile state, raising alarms over a potential resurgence of war in South Sudan.**
**Tragic UN Helicopter Attack Claims Lives in South Sudan**
**Tragic UN Helicopter Attack Claims Lives in South Sudan**
**Several casualties reported as UN evacuates troops amid escalating conflict**
In a harrowing incident in South Sudan, multiple fatalities have been reported following gunfire directed at a United Nations helicopter tasked with evacuating wounded soldiers from a combat zone. The UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) confirmed that one of its crew members has died as a result of the attack. It also noted that an injured general of the South Sudanese army and other soldiers lost their lives during this attempted evacuation in Upper Nile state.
The UN denounced the helicopter attack, highlighting that it could be classified as a war crime. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir stated that a second helicopter managed to depart after the attack but subsequently crash-landed, leading to further casualties. However, Unmiss clarified that both of its helicopters reached Malakal safely.
The Information Minister for South Sudan, Michael Makuei, reported that a total of 27 South Sudanese soldiers have died as a result of the recent violence connected to weeks of fighting in Upper Nile, which has jeopardized a precarious peace deal between President Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar. The troubling relationship between Kiir and Machar previously ignited a devastating five-year civil war starting in 2013, which resulted in 400,000 deaths and 2.5 million displaced individuals.
A peace agreement was established in 2018, yet tensions have persisted. The current clashes involve government forces and an ethnic militia known as the White Army, which had allied with Machar during the prior civil war. Unmiss has been working to transport injured troops from the conflict area in coordination with the South Sudanese army and the White Army.
Nicholas Haysom, head of Unmiss, condemned the attack on personnel and expressed sorrow over the loss of their colleague, while also lamenting the deaths of those they were trying to rescue. He emphasized that prior assurances for safe passage had been received.
President Kiir also confirmed the identity of the general killed in the attack as Gen. Majur Dak, who was leading forces stationed in Nasir, a specific region in Upper Nile state. Amid these escalating tensions and a wave of arrests targeting allies of Machar, there is increasing concern over the possibility of a renewed civil war.
Cautiously, Kiir urged the nation to maintain calm and reiterated his commitment to ensuring that South Sudan does not revert to conflict. "I have said time and again, that our country would not go back to war. Let no one take the law into their own hands," he stated, asserting governmental control over the crisis.
South Sudan has been recognized as the world's newest nation since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
The UN denounced the helicopter attack, highlighting that it could be classified as a war crime. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir stated that a second helicopter managed to depart after the attack but subsequently crash-landed, leading to further casualties. However, Unmiss clarified that both of its helicopters reached Malakal safely.
The Information Minister for South Sudan, Michael Makuei, reported that a total of 27 South Sudanese soldiers have died as a result of the recent violence connected to weeks of fighting in Upper Nile, which has jeopardized a precarious peace deal between President Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar. The troubling relationship between Kiir and Machar previously ignited a devastating five-year civil war starting in 2013, which resulted in 400,000 deaths and 2.5 million displaced individuals.
A peace agreement was established in 2018, yet tensions have persisted. The current clashes involve government forces and an ethnic militia known as the White Army, which had allied with Machar during the prior civil war. Unmiss has been working to transport injured troops from the conflict area in coordination with the South Sudanese army and the White Army.
Nicholas Haysom, head of Unmiss, condemned the attack on personnel and expressed sorrow over the loss of their colleague, while also lamenting the deaths of those they were trying to rescue. He emphasized that prior assurances for safe passage had been received.
President Kiir also confirmed the identity of the general killed in the attack as Gen. Majur Dak, who was leading forces stationed in Nasir, a specific region in Upper Nile state. Amid these escalating tensions and a wave of arrests targeting allies of Machar, there is increasing concern over the possibility of a renewed civil war.
Cautiously, Kiir urged the nation to maintain calm and reiterated his commitment to ensuring that South Sudan does not revert to conflict. "I have said time and again, that our country would not go back to war. Let no one take the law into their own hands," he stated, asserting governmental control over the crisis.
South Sudan has been recognized as the world's newest nation since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.
