Uniformed soldiers attempted to abduct a number of internally displaced people near a UN camp in Bentiu town in South Sudan’s Unity state on Thursday evening, a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said Friday.
In a press statement seen by Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said: “Soldiers were seen beating and harassing 11 internally displaced people at a nearby farm. UN peacekeepers intervened and rescued seven women and four men.”
In other related incidents the same evening, peacekeepers also prevented the harassment of other people who were returning to the site, according to Dujarric.
He pointed out that the head of the UN mission, David Shearer, commended the robust response of members of the Mongolian Battalion who rescued these people.
Bentiu camp accommodates 120,000 people.
Photo: UNMISS Mongolian battalion evacuating civilians on 16 April from Bentiu, Unity State, after conflict broke out between government and opposition forces/UNMISS