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The United Nations released a statement on Friday reporting the death of at least 58 people in an attack on a UN base in South Sudan in the government-controlled town Bor; over a 100 people were said to be wounded in the attack. Toby Lanzer, the top UN official in the country, praised the efforts of peacekeepers from Nepal, South Korea and India for preventing what otherwise could have been a bloodbath, leaving over 5,000 people the building was sheltering.
Lanzer also vowed that the UN would use “lethal force” if it needed to protect civilians under its roof. “We will do everything necessary to protect the lives of people in our protection, including the use of lethal force”, he said. Lanzer explained that in Thursday’s incident, a group of 350 armed youth in civilian clothing “used extremely violent force to breach the perimeter” of the UN base. The group opened fire on civilians who sought shelter in the UN base from the ethnic violence in the country.
“When we realized we were under attack we responded… the quick actions of the peacekeepers saved lives. Forty-eight bodies, including children, women, men, have been recovered from inside the base. The bodies of 10 attackers have been found outside the base. The total death toll is 58, but that could increase as over 100 people were wounded, some of them very seriously”, Lanzer said.
Lanzer added that measures have been taken to increase security in its UN bases in South Sudan, which shelter around 60,000 people, and that they’ve asked the South Sudanese government to make sure such attacks do not happen again. “This past week has been the most bleak in South Sudan’s history”, he said.
The conflict in South Sudan began on December 15 after a clash between fighters supporting ousted Vice President Riek Machar and troops supporting President Salva Kiir. Lanzer said that the violence has now descended into “a cycle of revenge”. “It’s vital that all communities realize that they are taking this country nowhere fast”, he added
