Security Council condemns attack against U.N mission in South Sudan
May 6, 2017 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations Security Council has “strongly” condemned the 3 May attack on its mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), calling on all parties to immediately adhere to the permanent ceasefire called for in the August 2015 peace deal.
According to UNMISS, between 11 pm and midnight on 3 May, the mission’s temporary operating base in Leer town in the former Unity State came under small-arms attack from the direction of the nearby government-held town.
Peacekeepers’ quick defensive action secured the safety of all of the internally displaced people who had sought UN protection adjacent to the base, said UNMISS.
“The members of the Security Council recalled that individuals who, directly or indirectly, engage in attacks against United Nations missions, international security presence, or other peacekeeping operations, or humanitarian personnel, may be designated for targeted sanctions,” the 15-member body said in a 6 May statement.
The Council members, however, expressed appreciation for the actions taken by UNMISS peacekeepers to repel the 3 May attack, further condemned the continued violence committed by all parties, including the ongoing military offensives, and called for the removal of all obstacles to the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
The U.N human rights chief had earlier, also appealed to the Government of South Sudan to halt any further military offensives towards Aburoc in the Upper Nile region.
Despite the August 2015 peace deal, South Sudan has witnessed renewed clashes between forces loyal to South Sudan President Salva Kiir and the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) backing the country’s First Vice-President Riek Machar.
Violence has caused a rise in the number of displaced people into its bases, while thousands have fled to neighbouring Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Up to 50, 000 civilians in South Sudan’s oil-producing Upper Nile region are at imminent risk of human rights violations as government troops close in, the U.N High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned Thursday.
(ST)