At least two government soldiers have been killed while 10 others, allegedly members of the civilians seeking protection at the United Nations camp have sustained injuries when gunmen opened fire at a position held by the government forces in Bentiu, capital of the former Unity State.
Local residents and officials say the attack took place on last Sunday but no group has come out to claim any responsibility for the act. Local authorities and the local commanders of the SPLA in the area blamed forces loyal to Riek Machar for the attack.
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman of the security general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, also confirmed during a daily briefing in New York that “shots were fired last Sunday evening by unknown gunmen attempting to attack soldiers of Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) located in a close proximity to the UN base.”
He confirmed that, “10 civilians were injured, prompting UN peacekeepers to respond to the incident causing the assailants to flee. The wounded are receiving medical attention.” The UN official did not say how many people were killed. However, a military source in Rubokona area near the UN camp, confirmed the attack to have occurred on their position, claiming two of his colleagues have lost their lives during the attack in which they were allegedly “caught unaware.”
“We are now trying to bury them. The rebels of Riek Machar have split and fought themselves. Those who do not want to follow Taban Deng Gai are the ones who carried out the attack on our camp. They fired into UN camp. I don’t know how many have been wounded there because we don’t go to their camp. But we understand some civilians have been injured, some killed,” he said.