Gunmen in South Sudan opened fire on civilians sheltering inside a United Nations base, residents said on Thursday, the latest atrocity in the war-torn nation.
Gunfire broke out in the base in Malakal in the northeast on Wednesday night, with reports of gunfire continuing on this morning. “They killed seven people and injured 32 people, including a young boy whose father was also killed,” said resident Jacob Nhial, speaking from inside the UN base. Rebels also reported the shooting, but the numbers killed could not be independently confirmed.
Over 47,500 people live inside the Malakal base, among almost 200,000 civilians who have sought shelter behind the razor wire fences of eight UN bases across the country since civil war began in late 2013.
“They used Kalashnikovs and machine guns... the situation is still tense, people are hiding,” Nhial added.
It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were. Malakal is in government control but frontlines with rebel areas are close by. In the past, the UN has said attacks on its bases in South Sudan may constitute a war crime. Veteran opposition politician Lam Akol, who comes from Malakal in the northeastern Upper Nile state, condemned what he called the “callous and cowardly attack on innocent unarmed civilians.”