Two aid workers killed in S. Sudan’s Unity state, says MSF
August, 26, 2015 (JUBA) – Two aid workers from the international humanitarian medical organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) were reportedly killed in South Sudan last week.
The agency said it received confirmation on their deaths, but was unware of the circumstances under which the two aid workers were killed.
MSF said it was forced to evacuate all international staff from its hospital in Leer in May as fighting in Unity state intensified. It said local staff, like Puoy and Gatpieny, sought shelter with their families in the surrounding swamps to escape the ongoing fighting.
“We’re deeply shocked and saddened by the killings of our colleagues”, said Tara Newell, MSF’s emergency manager, adding “It’s an indication of current level of violence that people living in Unity state today are exposed to.”
The agency further claimed several of its staff members who worked in Leer county remain unaccounted for and at the end of July, while another aid worker was reportedly injured after being shot in the face during an attack on the village of Dablual.
The MSF hospital in Leer reportedly remains non-functional and was the only secondary healthcare facility for around 200,000 people. The ongoing suspension of health services by other actors in the southern part of Unity state as a result of the fighting means that many people in southern Unity have no access to healthcare at all, the agency said.
“The situation is desperate. Ongoing attacks, killings and sexual violence against civilians by any armed actor in Unity state must stop” said Newell.
“People displaced from their homes and villages should be able to move safely to seek assistance, wherever it is being provided,” she said.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since violence broke out in the country following disagreements in the ruling party in December 2013.
(ST)