Another aid worker was killed in the Greater Pibor Area over the weekend, the latest in a series of incidents targeting humanitarian convoys and workers in the country.
Last week, two people were killed and others seriously injured after a targeted attack on a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy in Jonglei State.
Simon Peter Ajeny, a Local Government Minister in the Greater Pibor Area, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that a driver was killed when gunmen attacked a convoy of empty trucks en route to Bor town of Jonglei state after having delivered relief food to Pibor town on Sunday evening.
“On Sunday evening, criminals ambushed a convoy of about 6 WFP trucks en route to Bor after having delivered us food. One driver was killed on the spot. The incident occurred in the Kohchar area of Gumuruk County,” he explained.
The minister condemned the attack and said two suspects had been arrested in connection with the incident.
“As a government, we are angered by the incident. In response, we discharged security forces who managed to apprehend two suspects who happened to be from our area. They are now being investigated in Pibor town,” he said.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Khamis Marajan, the area’s police commissioner, also confirmed the incident and said they have since arrested two suspects pending investigations.
“What happened was that bandits tried to stop one of the trucks, but the driver of that truck was defiant. So they opened fire on him and killed him. He was a Somali national identified as Mohamed Abdelghani. We have since managed to arrest two people who are now under investigation in Pibor. They admitted to the killing and investigations are still ongoing,” he said.
In an email response to Radio Tamazuj, WFP spokesperson in South Sudan Gemma Snowdon confirmed the attack on the trucks, without providing details.
“Commercial trucks returning from Pibor were attacked, these trucks were empty after having delivered WFP food to Pibor,” Snowdon said.
South Sudan is considered one of the most dangerous places for aid workers.
The UN projects that in 2023, an estimated 9.4 million people in South Sudan will need humanitarian assistance or protection services. The humanitarian situation is worsened by endemic violence, access constraints, operational interference, public health challenges, and climate shocks such as flooding and localized drought.