The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) yesterday announced that the Mi-8 UN helicopter that crashed near Bentiu was shot down, and also disclosed that a South Sudanese opposition commander had threatened to shoot down UN aircraft prior to the attack.

The UN said, however, that it was too early in the investigation process to “conclusively apportion blame for the shooting down of the helicopter.”

Three Russian crewmen died in the attack on the UN chopper on 26 August, and a fourth was injured.

UNMISS stated in a press release that experts investigating the incident have “uncovered evidence indicating that the aircraft was shot down.”

The Mission also revealed that, “during a phone call with a Mission’s staff member in Bentiu on 17 August, Peter Gadet, the commander of opposition forces in Unity State, alleged that UNMISS aircraft were being used to transport Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) troops and threatened to shoot down the Mission’s aircraft.”

“The UNMISS staff member refuted the accusations and, to ensure the safety of its aircraft, UNMISS immediately started sharing information on all its flights into Bentiu with the opposition forces as well as the SPLA,” adds the press release.  

According to the press statement, an in-depth technical investigation should provide additional information which will “make it possible to conclusively determine the source of the ground fire which brought down the helicopter.”

The United Nations has been using helicopters to carry supplies and personnel into and out of its Bentiu base because of poor roads.

File photo: Peter Gadet (left), the general who threatened to shoot down UN aircraft, with Riek Machar (right), leader of SPLM-IO, earlier this year in Jonglei State