Three of the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) aid workers were killed and two others injured in clashes in South Sudan on October 27, the IOM said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2019) Three of the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) aid workers were killed and two others injured in clashes in South Sudan on October 27, the IOM said on Wednesday.According to the organization, the aid workers were killed during a fight between armed groups in Morobo County, South Sudan's Central Equatoria region. The IOM's volunteers were working at Ebola screening points in border areas between South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tracking the spread of the deadly disease.
"The IOM volunteers, one female and two males, were caught in a crossfire during clashes that broke out in the morning hours of 27 October in Isebi, in Morobo County. Two other male volunteers suffered non-life threatening injuries, one of whom is recovering from a gunshot wound," the press release said.
According to the release, a female volunteer and the killed female aid worker's four-year-old son were abducted during the attack. Their location is still unknown.
The organization condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the murder of its workers, while IOM South Sudan Chief of Mission Jean-Philippe Chauzy called those responsible "to be brought to justice."
After the accident, the IOM suspended its work at Ebola screening points, namely in Isebi, Bazi, Kirikwa, Lasu and Okaba, as well as its operations of flow monitoring points and support to health facilities.
"The safety of our personnel is paramount and will not be further jeopardized until we secure guarantees for the security of all our personnel operating in Morobo County," Chauzy said, as quoted by the press release.
In 2011, a longstanding fight for independence resulted in South Sudan's separation from the country as a whole. Two years later, following a political struggle between then-President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, an armed conflict between soldiers from the Dinka ethnic group, aligned with Kiir, and those from the Nuer ethnic group, supporting Machar, erupted in South Sudan. It was not until August 2018 that the parties finally reached a power sharing agreement.
