At least 18 people were killed inside the UN Protection of Civilians site in Malakal in South Sudan after scuffles broke out along ethnic lines on Wednesday night and after government forces breached the perimeter of the UN compound to join in the fighting.

The incident happened in Malakal, once South Sudan's second largest city, now largely abandoned except for a garrison of government soldiers and about 40,000 people living at the UN protection site on the northern outskirts of the town.

Eyewitnesses inside the Protection of Civilians (POC) site confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that tensions had risen among the Dinka, Shilluk and Nuer displaced communities since Tuesday prior to the outbreak of fighting. Violence erupted on Wednesday evening between groups of camp residents.

“Violence involving the use of small arms, machetes and other weapons broke out between youths from both communities [Shilluk and Dinka] in the late evening on 17 February,” explained the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in a press release. UNMISS police intervened with tear gas to disperse the crowd, but fighting reportedly continued into the night and resumed also on Thursday morning.

According to camp residents who spoke to Radio Tamazuj, members of the South Sudanese national army (SPLA) infiltrated the camp during the night and joined the fighting, which aggravated the situation in the early hours of Thursday morning, resulting in dozens killed or wounded inside the camp.

UNMISS in its public statement made no direct mention of attacks by government soldiers inside the protection site, instead describing the incident as “violence... between Shilluk and Dinka youths.”

But a leaked UN report on the incident corroborated the witness accounts provided to Radio Tamazuj. “SPLA troops numbering 50-100 have entered the UNMISS POC Sector 1 and 2 in Malakal reportedly attacking IDPs, shooting sporadically, burning tents and looting properties,” reads an email sent to UN security personnel at the time of the attack.

“IDPs continue to flee into the former POC area and have now occupied and filled up former POCs 1, 2, 3, 4,” the report adds.

Separately, UNMISS Spokesperson Ariane Quentier confirmed in an email that the camp came under fire “from outside.” She said, “I can confirm shooting incidents between communities in Malakal PoC site, further compounded by shooting coming from outside.”

Peter Dhieu Kuan, chairman of the peace and reconciliation commission in the camp, told Radio Tamazuj that elements of SPLA infiltrated into the camp on Wednesday evening and joined members of the Dinka displaced community in attacking citizens of the Shilluk and Nuer tribes, opening fire on them and burning part of the Nuer quarter in the camp.

He estimated the number of dead at five Shilluk and two Nuer, along with at least 38 wounded.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the medical charity, announced its own tally of the dead and wounded on Thursday night, saying at least 18 people were killed, including two MSF South Sudanese staff members who were attacked in their homes. MSF said they treated 36 wounded people including 25 victims of gunshot wounds at their hospital in the Malakal camp.

“This attack on civilians is outrageous and we demand that armed groups stop these actions,” said Marcus Bachmann, coordinator of MSF projects in South Sudan. “People came to the PoC looking for protection and this should be a sanctuary respected by all parties.”

MSF also disclosed that it sheltered approximately 600 people, mostly women and children, inside its hospital in the UN base after the initial outbreak of fighting Wednesday night.

According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the attack on the Malakal base “may constitute a war crime.” In his press statement, however, Ban referred only indirectly to the attack on the UN base, reminding government security forces “of the inviolability of the United Nations compounds.”

This is the third major attack against a UN base in South Sudan since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013, after massacres in Akobo and Bor.

MSF stated, “Our thoughts are with the families of our colleagues who have lost their lives.”

The UN Mission says that it is engaging with local authorities in Malakal to de-escalate the situation. It further says that it has increased perimeter patrolling of the protection site by peacekeepers.

For its part, opposition group SPLM-IO has condemned the violence, calling it part of a "continued state policy of extermination." The group also criticized the UN peacekeeping mission, suggesting it should possibly relocate people from the protection sites.

"We are blaming the UNMISS for failing to execute its mandate again to protect the innocent civilians," said SPLM-IO deputy military spokesman Dickson Gatluak.

"UN and UNMISS instead of burying their heads in the sand should clearly come out and announce that they are powerless to execute their mandate of protecting unarmed civilians. Continuing to allow civilians to dodge live bullets under blankets is unacceptable. If UNMISS is handcuffed and can't enforce their mandate, let it relocate the remnants to safer areas which is the only excusable strategy," said Dickson.

Photo: A scene from the Malakal POC site before the outbreak of violence