South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has urged calm following an attack on a UN helicopter that killed one crew member and wounded two others during a rescue mission on Friday.
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) stated that the helicopter came under fire while attempting to evacuate South Sudanese soldiers from Upper Nile State, where clashes between forces loyal to Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar have escalated.
A South Sudanese army general and other officers were also killed in the botched extraction.
UNMISS condemned the attack, warning it could constitute a war crime under international law.
President Kiir reaffirmed his commitment to peace, stating, “Our country will not go back to war.
Let no one take the law into their hands. The government which I lead will handle this crisis.”
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, ended a five-year civil war in 2018 with a fragile power-sharing agreement between Kiir and Machar.
However, renewed violence in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, threatens the accord.
Kiir’s allies accuse Machar’s forces of fueling the unrest with support from the White Army, an armed youth group from Machar’s Nuer ethnic community.
Government forces suffered significant losses earlier this week when a garrison in the region was overrun.
In response, authorities in Juba arrested key Machar allies, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol and deputy army chief General Gabriel Duop Lam.
Peacebuilding Minister Stephen Par Kuol was later released.
