South Sudan: MSF workers among 18 people dead in violence at UN camp

At least 18 people, including two workers from the international medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières^[1] (MSF), have been killed in South Sudan^[2] after fighting erupted at a UN compound where almost 50,000 civilians are sheltering from the country’s civil war.

The violence at the Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) site^[3] in the north of the country broke out on Wednesday night, when two South Sudanese MSF workers were attacked and killed in their homes.

According to the charity, the fighting lasted for three hours, forcing about 600 people to flee to the MSF hospital in the camp. At least 25 people were treated for gunshot wounds, eight of whom needed surgery.

Related: South Sudan: 'a level of human suffering I have never seen anywhere else'^[4]

Although the UN said the violence was due to fighting between residents of the camp, AFP reported that government troops had been involved.

Jacob Nhial, a resident, told the news agency he had seen troops wearing the uniform of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) shooting at civilians, fighting taking place in the camp as well as gunfire coming from soldiers outside.

A confidential communication from the UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss)^[5] seen by AFP also said that SPLA soldiers had taken part in the attack.

“SPLA troops numbering 50 to 100 have entered the Unmiss PoC Sector 1 and 2 in Malakal reportedly attacking IDPs, shooting sporadically, burning tents and looting properties,” the internal UN document reads.

Marcus Bachmann, coordinator of MSF projects in South Sudan, described the attack on civilians as outrageous and called for the armed groups to end the violence.^[6]

“People came to the PoC looking for protection and this should be a sanctuary respected by all parties,” he said.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has been consumed by conflict since December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his former vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup. The fighting quickly tore the country apart along sectarian lines, pitting supporters of Kiir, a Dinka, against those backing Machar, a Nuer.^[7]

Unmiss, whose armed, international peacekeepers guard the PoC, said youths in the camp from the Shilluk and Dinka ethnic groups had started fighting on Wednesday night, using small arms, machetes and other weapons.

Although weapons are banned in the PoC, violence has often flared up between the different groups. The Shilluk live in sector one, while the Nuer and Dinka live in sector two.

“The events which took place on 17 and 18 February in Malakal Protection of Civilians site are utterly reprehensible,” said Eugene Owusu, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan.

“The PoC site was established as a place of refuge for people fleeing for their lives. It is absolutely unacceptable that this place of refuge has become a site where people have been killed and injured.”

Related: South Sudan faces 'concrete' famine risk and needs urgent help, warn experts^[8]

It is not the first time aid workers have been killed in the country^[9]. In August last year, two South Sudanese MSF workers were killed in Unity state^[10], where some of the fiercest fighting of the war has taken place.

The Malakal PoC has come under external attack before^[11]. In October last year, one of the PoC’s residents told the Guardian how his brother had been killed by a bullet fired from outside the camp^[12].

The Malakal site is home to roughly a quarter of the 198,440 people who live in the UN’s six bases in South Sudan.
^[13]

Two years of fighting have killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 2.2 million inside and outside the country, as well as pushing parts of South Sudan to the brink of famine^[14] and decimating an already weak economy^[15].

Hopes that the peace deal signed last August^[16] might finally result in an end to hostilities received a minor boost last week after Kiir used a presidential decree to restore Machar to the post of vice-president^[17].

However, it remains to be seen whether Machar will return from exile to take up the role – or whether it will finally signal an end to a conflict that has been marked by dozens of shattered truces^[18] and repeated allegations of atrocities^[19].

References

1. ^{^} Médecins Sans Frontières (www.msf.org)
2. ^{^} South Sudan (www.theguardian.com)
3. ^{^} Malakal Protection of Civilians (PoC) site (www.theguardian.com)
4. ^{^} South Sudan: 'a level of human suffering I have never seen anywhere else' (www.theguardian.com)
5. ^{^} UN Mission in South Sudan (Unmiss) (unmiss.unmissions.org)
6. ^{^} South Sudan (www.theguardian.com)
7. ^{^} consumed by conflict since December 2013 (www.theguardian.com)
8. ^{^} South Sudan faces 'concrete' famine risk and needs urgent help, warn experts (www.theguardian.com)
9. ^{^} not the first time aid workers have been killed in the country (www.theguardian.com)
10. ^{^} two South Sudanese MSF workers were killed in Unity state (www.doctorswithoutborders.org)
11. ^{^} Malakal PoC has come under external attack before (www.msf.org)
12. ^{^} how his brother had been killed by a bullet fired from outside the camp (www.theguardian.com)
13. ^{^} 198,440 people who live in the UN’s six bases in South Sudan (www.un.org)
14. ^{^} pushing parts of South Sudan to the brink of famine (www.theguardian.com)
15. ^{^} decimating an already weak economy (www.theguardian.com)
16. ^{^} peace deal signed last August (www.theguardian.com)
17. ^{^} Kiir used a presidential decree to restore Machar to the post of vice-president (www.theguardian.com)
18. ^{^} dozens of shattered truces (bigstory.ap.org)
19. ^{^} repeated allegations of atrocities (www.theguardian.com)