Seven aid workers kidnapped in war-torn S. Sudan state
December 18, 2017 (WAU) – Seven aid workers were abducted by unknown gunmen in Raja town of South Sudan’s Lol state on Sunday, officials said.
“The rebel’s loyal to Riek Machar attacked four commercial trucks coming from Aweil near Mogayat in Raja, and at the same time there were two NGO vehicles coming from Raja,” the state minister of information, Omar Isahaq told Sudan Tribune Monday.
The abducted aid workers, the minister said, were from HealthNet and Solidarity International.
“There are four aid workers from Solidarity International, and three aid workers from HealthNet. The rebels took the two vehicles belonging to the NGOs,” said Isahaq.
A dozen civilians were reportedly killed when the gunmen attacked four commercial vehicles near Mogayat area.
A South Sudanese rebel official separately admitted they abducted 15 people during the attack.
The rebel appointed governor of Lol state, Ayman Mohamed Ibrahim, claimed those abducted were South Sudan government soldiers and Sudanese rebels.
Nine aid workers were killed in South Sudan in November alone, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), said last week.
More than 90 aid workers, the UN said, have been killed in South Sudan ever since the conflict in South Sudan, which was caused by political differences, broke out in 2013.
(ST)