At least 60 people sheltering at a UN-protected camp in Bor, South Sudan, were killed when armed men, some of them wearing military uniforms, overran the base perimeter in order to shoot at the residents inside.
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was protecting about 5,000 Nuer civilians within their base in the town, which has been controlled by the government since its recapture from rebel forces in January.
Rev. Yein Tut, a resident of the ‘protection site’ within the UNMISS base, told Radio Tamazuj that a group of men from Bor, some in military uniforms, stormed the base this morning.
“There were government soldiers, youth and some military who came back from where they had taken leave. They came and attacked people at UNMISS, they killed and injured a lot of people,” he said.
In a statement, UNMISS noted, “These assailants came under the guise of peaceful demonstrators intending to present a petition to UNMISS.”
“The violent attack happened despite repeated warning shots fired by UNMISS peacekeepers. The armed mob forced entry in to the site and opened fire on the internally displaced persons sheltering inside the base. UNMISS peacekeepers returned fire, and the mob retreated from the base,” added the statement.
Duop, a community leader in the camp who lost his wife in the attack, recalled: “We were staying inside the camp of the UN when the gunmen came – people of SPLA came – they started to shoot at the camp. Then they killed many people.”
“They entered over the fence of UNMISS where we were staying. And they shot at everybody inside,” he explained. Duop faulted the UN for failing to prevent the attackers from entering the base.
“There is no protection. There is no protection by the UN people,” he said.
Casualty figures
According to a medical source speaking to Radio Tamazuj from within the UNMISS compound in Bor, the death toll by Thursday afternoon reached 61 people. Another 273 were wounded.
“In front of me, as a doctor, I saw 61 people dead in front of me,” said William Oyual, a health worker in UNMISS.
William Tut, another community leader in the camp, said he thought the number of casualties was actually higher, pointing out they were still gathering bodies from inside tents.
UNMISS has declined to publish any figures on the number of daed, saying the number was not yet confirmed. But they put the number of wounded in the ‘dozens’ and added two UNMISS peacekeepers also sustained injuries repelling the attack.
Reasons for the attack
Anyang Ageit Deng, head of Bor youth, explained to Radio Tamazuj why youth went out to the UNMISS base today. He said they first marched past the house of the governor and the state assembly before heading to UNMISS.
He claimed they were peacefully demonstrating because they were angry the displaced people inside the UNMISS base celebrated the capture of Bentiu by rebels.
They shouted ‘Riek Machar oyee’ after the capture of Bentiu earlier this week, he said. “They looted possessions of the civilians: cars, motorcycles and household things,” he also alleged.
According to the youth leader, the people that they attacked today were not innocent civilians but were actually militia loyal to the rebel leader.
“They [UNMISS] are protecting ‘white army’ inside UNMISS – not Nuer but white army who are loyal to Riek Machar,” he said.
Also the youth leader revealed that five of the demonstrators were killed and 16 wounded.
Radio Tamazuj tried to contact the state government for explanation of the incident but they declined to discuss the matter, saying they were busy.
File photo: The UNMISS ‘PoC’ site in Bor (Reuters)