The United Nations says that it has been unable to deliver key military equipment to its peacekeepers in South Sudan including attack helicopters and surveillance drones, which it says would help it to protect civilians.
UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous blamed the South Sudanese government for blocking deliveries of the equipment. “We needed attack helicopters, request denied; we needed UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), request denied by the president to me, personally, three times last year.”
He was speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on peacekeeping operations.
“Juba did declare some of our senior personnel persona non grata, if you look at the fact that yesterday it was announced that UN personnel taking pictures will be considered a spy, I think this raises a number of concerns,” Ladsous added.