Three Indians killed in attack on UN base in South Sudan

Three Indian peacekeepers were killed when about 2,000 rebels stormed a UN base in South Sudan’s troubled Jonglei state, the second such incident in eight months in which Indian soldiers have died in the world’s newest country.

‘Unfortunately, just this very morning such militia groups have targeted and killed three soldiers from India in South Sudan,’ India’s Ambassador to the UN Asoke Mukerji told a UN meeting on peacekeeping late last evening.

Mukerji later told an Indian news agency that about 1500-2000 people made a forced entry early in the morning on Thursday into the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) base at Akobo, which at the time had 43 Indian?soldiers, six political UN officers and 12 civilian staff.

About 30 South Sudanese people had sought shelter at the base from the turmoil plaguing areas of Akobo County. The ethnic Lou Nuer youths asked the Indian soldiers to hand over the South Sudanese people but the Indian soldiers refused. The rebels then started shooting indiscriminately and killed three Indian soldiers.

However, all 18 UN political officers and civilian staff were accounted for and safe.

Mukerji said Sudan People’s Liberation Army, the national army of South Sudan, took the UN personnel to safety.

The force headquarters in South Sudan sent medical support to evacuate the injured and would later extract all the UN personnel, including the Indian peacekeepers.

‘We want the UN Security Council to investigate and prosecute these people who have killed UN peacekeepers. This is the responsibility of the UN. We have been asking for this again and again and so far we have not seen any action on this,’ Mukerji said.

He said the UN peacekeepers are deployed to protect civilians and they work in difficult conditions.

India is one of the largest troop contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions with 150,000 soldiers deployed at various peacekeeping missions.

The attack is the second incident in South Sudan in eight months in which Indian soldiers have been killed.

Earlier in April, an attack against a UN peacekeeping convoy in the mid-African country had killed five Indian soldiers.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was ‘appalled’ to learn of the attack on the UNMISS base and said those responsible?must be held accountable for their crimes.

Ban expressed deep concern about continued reports of growing violence in many parts of South Sudan, human rights abuses and killings fuelled by ethnic?tensions.

He demanded that the South Sudanese government and opposition forces respect the rights of civilians and ensure their safety and security, a statement issued?by his spokesperson on the situation in South Sudan said.