The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says that it has supported a government police operation to dismantle a trading zone outside the pedestrian gate of Juba POC 3 ('Protection Site').

According to a press statement by the mission, the peacekeepers extended “logistical support” to the operation at the request of the South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS), claiming that the market was “illegal” and “a threat to the safety of the occupants of the POC site.”

UNMISS said the operation was carried out by local authorities in response to concerns raised by community leaders in the POC and surrounding communities that “the activities in the area posed a clear security threat to IDPs and increased criminal activity outside the POC sites and nearby vicinity. These community leaders subsequently issued a formal request that local authorities have the section cleared.”

The peacekeeping mission says it reinforced its security personnel presence at the POCs 3 and 1 during the clearing operation by the police service.

“The main POC gates were closed during the exercise to prevent any interference during the operation, and to protect those in the POC site. The removal and relocation of shops was a Government-led operation carried out by the Governor, SSNPS, and SPLA, with UNMISS and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) providing logistical and security support to the adjacent POC sites,” reads the press statement.

File photo: UNMISS chief Ellen Loej during a visit to Malakal, March 2016