Negotiations are continuing over the fate of three UNICEF’s subcontractors taken captive by the opposition last week in Pagak, the headquarters of the rebel group loyal to former first vice president Riek Machar, a top UN official said.
The South Sudanese men working for Montrose, an organization contracted by UNICEF to carry out education surveys in Mathiang fled the area on 7 July along with other humanitarian actors, and were seized in Pagak area upon arrival.
The United Nations and the government-allied opposition faction in Juba both demanded that they be released immediately.
David Shearer, head of the UN mission in South Sudan, told reporters Wednesday in Juba that negotiations were taking place between the UN mission and authorities in Pagak to release the detained UNICEF contractors.
“We certainty would appeal to the authorities there not to harm them in anyway. We would not expect that. I don’t want to make any further comment while the situation is still ongoing,” he said.
Aid workers have been increasingly targeted in various conflict zones in the country, where at least 79 humanitarian workers have been killed since the civil war began in 2013.