"58 Killed, More Than 100 Injured After Attack on UN Peacekeeping base in South Sudan"

[KoKo]

(Did anyone see this in any USA Mainstream Media Sites? I don't recall seeing it here on DU)

Published on Friday, April 18, 2014 by Common Dreams
58 Killed, More Than 100 Injured After UN Base Attacked in South Sudan
Internally displaced targeted in assault on peacekeeper encampment
- Jon Queally, staff writer




The United Nations said Friday at least 58 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in an attack against one of its bases in South Sudan sheltering thousands of civilians. (Map: Agence France-Presse)The United Nations is condemning a violent attack on a peacekeeper's base in South Sudan on Thursday that left 58 people dead and more than 100 unjured.

The base, according to the UN, was safeguarding civilians when it came under attack by militants wielding automatic guns and rocket-fired grenades.

The attack on the UN base near the city of Bor, some 120 miles north of the capital of Juba, took place on Thursday and was blamed on locals who were seeking revenge for the recent takeover of the city of Bentiu by opposition forces.

According to Reuters:

Locals pretending to be peaceful protesters delivering a petition forced their way into the camp on Thursday and opened fire before being beaten back by UN security personnel (UNMiss).

"The army has come in now. They have been ordered to protect UNMiss so there will be no attack from anybody," Ateny Wek Ateny, President Salva Kiir's spokesman, told Reuters by phone.

Thousands of people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced since fighting erupted in South Sudan in the middle of December, triggered by a power struggle between Kiir and former vice-president Riek Machar.

The violence has also taken on an ethnic dimension, with Dinka people loyal to Kiir against civilian militias and defected government troops loosely allied to Machar, who is Nuer.

The two sides fought for control of strategic towns before a ceasefire was signed on 23 January, but sporadic clashes since the ceasefire deal erupted into full-blown combat this week, when the rebels seized control of Bentiu, the capital of oil-producing Unity state.

__https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/18-5__________________
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[KoKo]

1. More from MSN/UK NEWS....Unknown number of Children/Civilians Killed in attack

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/58-killed-in-s-sudan-un-base-attack

An attack on a UN peacekeeping base in South Sudan has killed 58 people and injured about 100 others, a UN official said.

An angry mob of youths attacked the UN peacekeeping mission's camp in Bor, Jonglei state, where 5,000 ethnic Nuers fled after fighting broke out in the country in mid-December.

The UN official said most of the 58 people killed were Nuer but there were also casualties on the other side. Initial reports said 12 people were killed.

Unicef, the UN children's agency, said an unknown number of children were among the dozens of civilians injured and killed in the attack.

"Utterly defenceless children were attacked in a place where they should have felt safe," Jonathan Veitch, Unicef representative in South Sudan said in a statement. "The trauma for children under such circumstances is indescribable."

South Sudan saw massive violence sweep the country in December, when fighting broke out between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and those loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer who was fired last July by Kiir. Thousands of people are believed to have been killed, and more than 1 million have fled their homes.

Since December, Bor has changed hands four times between South Sudan's military and rebels loyal to Machar.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said after the latest attack: "The assailants, a mob of armed civilians, came to the base under the guise of peaceful demonstrators intending to present a petition ... The armed mob forced entry on to the site and opened fire on the internally displaced persons sheltering inside the base."

The UN said a surgical team from Doctors Without Borders flew into Bor to help treat those injured in the attack. The UN has also reinforced security at Bor.

The UN mission in South Sudan and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the "unprovoked" attack.

The Security Council issued a press statement expressing "outrage" at the attack and reminding that "attacks on civilians and UN peacekeepers may constitute a war crime".

The UN mission called for a full investigation into the "heinous murders".

The secretary-general warned that up to 1 million people face potential famine-level hunger because of the fighting.

Unicef's Mr Veitch said that during intense fighting in the oil hub of Bentiu in Unity State earlier this week, hundreds of children fled to a UN base for protection. Others were observed carrying weapons, wearing uniforms and undergoing military training, he said.

Mr Veitch said Unicef has credible reports that both sides to the conflict are recruiting children. He cited the case of a 16-year-old boy who was gravely injured in the fighting and reported having been forcibly recruited three months ago by an armed group.

[karynnj]

5. The NYT covered it - as mainstream as you can get

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/18/world/africa/south-sudan-un-base-attacked.html?_r=0

I assume the other major papers did as well. I'm pretty sure I read it in the Burlington Vt paper - which clearly would have used either USA Today or AP.

[KoKo]

6. I did search last night after it showed up on Common Dreams late yesterday...

and saw a snip from ABC and only this other European site that had more information. The NYT's link is only a blurb the day it happened. I wondered why there wasn't a mention of it here on DU by those who might have seen it in on CNN or something. I don't watch much cable news...so often only hear about what they are reporting as latest Breaking here on DU. Was such a huge attack would have thought there would be more about it.

[Igel]

2. Yup.

Thursday.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014782871

We like to think of genocide as new. It's not. It's only "new" because with better food and transportation and government systems "tribes" could become large.

When tribes are small and warfare is based on zero-sum conceptions of honor and revenge genocide is routine. Without genocide and assimilation of any remaining enemy, the war doesn't end, it just gets kicked down the road a generation or so.

[KoKo]

7. Thanks...missed it in LBN that day when it happened.

Anyway, the EuroSite, I linked, has more current follow up info if anyone is interested.

[KoKo]

3. kick...

[seveneyes]

4. Targeting killing and torture of women and children

This atrocity could use some of the same outrage that drones get for their collateral damage. In fact, it should get more attention and condemnation considering it was the women and children that were the target, rather than the killers themselves.