UN condemns killing of South Sudan aid workers

The UN has condemned the killing of three aid workers in two separate attacks in South Sudan.

The killings are "completely unacceptable and must stop,” the acting UN Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, Peter van der Auweraert said in a statement.

Two aid workers were shot and killed while on duty at a humanitarian facility, when armed men attacked Rumameer village in Abyei, a border oil-rich area being contested by South Sudan and Sudan.

Several civilians were also killed, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said in a press release on Wednesday.

In a similar incident, an aid worker was killed by unknown individuals while he guarded humanitarian commodities in Duk County in Jonglei state in the east of the country over the weekend.

Humanitarian supplies were looted during the incident, Ocha added.

South Sudan continues to be one of the most dangerous places for aid workers. Nine aid workers were killed while on duty in 2022 alone, compared to five in 2021.

Since the conflict began in 2013, 141 humanitarians, predominantly South Sudanese, have lost their lives while providing humanitarian assistance to the people, according to Ocha.