UK approves UN deployment of royal air force
March 30, 2015 (JUBA) – The British government has permitted the deployment and usage of its royal air force by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
“The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) welcomes the temporary deployment of a British Royal Air Force C-130 aircraft to South Sudan. The aircraft, which has arrived on 28 March in Juba, will conduct daily flights to Malakal (Upper Nile) to enable the delivery of vital supplies and vehicles to the UNMISS base and its protection of civilians’ site,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
According to the UNIMISS, the uses of such aircraft will temporarily double the C-130 air-lift capacity of the UN mission to Malakal.
“With the impending rainy season, 60% of the roads in South Sudan will be impassable and Malakal mostly reachable by river barges; the timing of the air operation is therefore crucial to re-supply the UN base during the dry season,” the UN said.
This is reportedly the first deployment of a United Kingdom C-130 as part of the UN’s Air Transport Fleet to the United Nations in Africa.
The operation is supported by a small British military team based in Entebbe, Uganda, with forward elements deployed to Juba and Malakal.
According to UNMISS, the United Kingdom deployed in December 2014, a technical team of 12 military engineers to help map out and design the expansion and improvement of the UN base and protection of civilians sites in the Upper Nile capital.
The conflict in South Sudan has given rise to 112,000 internally displaced civilians seeking protection in UN compounds, with over 21,000 at civilians’ site in Malakal.
(ST)