A US embassy vehicle was shot during a night of chaos Thursday in South Sudan’s capital Juba, according to multiple corroborating sources.
At the time of press, a State Department spokesperson did not return requests for comment, and it is unknown if any embassy officials are injured.
On Thursday night, the country director for UNESCO also suffered multiple bullet wounds in a separate incident in Tongpiny neighborhood while he was driving home. He was operated on and is in stable condition.
Meanwhile, a confrontation between government and opposition left at least five soldiers dead in Gudele neighborhood.
It is not the first time US embassy employees have been shot at recently. In early June, a security guard was shot and killed in the early morning while protecting a non-embassy facility.
In recent months, some diplomats say they have feared a standoff between government troops and diplomatic security. They say that South Sudanese troops at pop-up checkpoints in the capital have a tendency to ignore diplomatic license plates and not allow free passage.
In 2014, guards of vice president Wani Igga fired two shots at the convoy of the US embassy’s then charge d’affairs. No one was hurt.
File photo: US ambassador to South Sudan Molly Phee