SPLA-Juba faction fighters have harassed convoys of United Nations peacekeepers in Bentiu and allegedly also opened fire on the UN base in the town on Monday.
According to a spokesman at the United Nations headquarters in New York, three patrols of peacekeepers travelling from Bentiu to Rubkona were stopped over the weekend by SPLA-Juba faction troops.
The spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the soldiers “behaved aggressively” towards the peacekeepers.
Citing reports from the peaceeking mission UNMISS, he said, “the situation in Bentiu and Rubkona in Unity State remained tense over the weekend, following clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and Opposition forces on Friday.”
On Monday morning the UN Mission reported sporadic fighting south of its base in Bentiu. Over the weekend, the Mission also received reports of sporadic firing west of the Rubkona airstrip and near the Bentiu bridge.
A source in the UN base in Bentiu said that gunfire aimed toward the base on Monday hit some UN facilities but did not injure anyone.
Reports are not clear as to why fighters shot toward the base, but the source said they may have been targeting a group of unarmed people running toward the base.
UNMISS is yet to respond to an inquiry to confirm that bullets hit the base in Bentiu yesterday.
Meanwhile, in a similar report, Sudan Tribune stated today that a five-year-old boy at the UNMISS camp was wounded by bullets fired by SPLA-Juba faction soldiers.
The online daily also cited unconfirmed reports of a number of killings of civilians around the airstrip in Rubkona.
File photo