Gunmen Attack UN Convoy, Kill Two

Juba: A gang of armed men attacked a United Nations aid convoy in South Sudan on Tuesday, killing two people and injuring three others, before fleeing with tonnes of relief worth millions of dollars.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the attack underscored the dangers confronting aid agencies in the world’s youngest country at a time when nearly half its population, or about 5.5 million people, face food shortages.

The United Nations has already declared a famine in some parts. Some aid workers were kidnapped, shot at and had their supplies looted by the armed men.

The attack occurred in Yirol, in the centre of the country, about 210km (130 miles) northwest of the capital of Juba, where the aid workers had been dealing with a cholera outbreak. In a statement, the IOM said the convoy was targeted as it returned to Yirol, with the gunmen ambushing one of the vehicles.

Two people died of gunshot wounds, the aid group said, and an IOM health officer was among the wounded. On Thursday, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said its hospital in Wau Shilluk had been looted during recent heavy fighting.