United Nations – The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) says any attack against civilians and UN premises may constitute a war crime.
This is contained in a statement issued on Thursday in New York.
The Mission also condemned the violence that erupted on Wednesday night between Shilluk and Dinka youths in its protection of civilians’ site in Malakal in the North East region of South Sudan.
UNMISS said that violence involving the use of small arms, machetes and other weapons broke out late evening between youths from both communities, resulting in five fatalities among the community of internally displaced persons.
According to UNMISS, preliminary reports say about 30 people are injured.
The mission also confirmed that the violence continued through Thursday morning and called on all communities to refrain from violence, restore calm and resolve differences through dialogue.
It also said that the mission police in charge of maintaining order within the protection sites immediately intervened with tear gas to disperse the crowd, while casualties were brought to the international non-governmental clinic at the site.
The Mission also said that UN troops had increased perimeter patrolling, while physically securing areas in the vicinity of site.
It also confirmed that it was engaging with local authorities in Malakal to de-escalate the situation.
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UNMISS protects 47,791 civilians in Malakal, while 198,440 civilians are currently protected at six UNMISS bases throughout South Sudan. (NAN)