Marial Amum Malek, an MP in South Sudan’s Eastern Lakes State, has confirmed that at least two people working for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) were killed and four others including a Kenyan national wounded when gunmen attacked one of their aid convoys in Yirol East County.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, Marial Amum stated the convoy was ambushed by suspected elements of the armed opposition group while returning to Yirol town from a field mission in Shembe on Tuesday.
He further said the director of Yirol Hospital was among the dead, adding that the wounded aid workers were taken to Juba for treatment.
For his part, the Director General of International Organisation for Migration (IOM), William Lacy Swing said in a separate statement that two people were killed and three others injured in an attack on a humanitarian convoy on Tuesday. He added that among the injured was an IOM health officer.
“I unequivocally condemn the attack on IOM staff, health workers and civilians, who were assaulted during a lifesaving humanitarian mission in Yirol East County, South Sudan,” said Ambassador Swing.
NOTICE OF CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that two people working for IOM were killed. This is incorrect. Among the injured was an IOM health officer who sustained a gunshot wound but is currently in a stable condition.