Martin Nesirky NEW YORK, NY - An Indian peacekeeping contingent in South Sudan came under fire as fighting erupted between local groups near a UN base in Malakal, requiring the soldiers to fire multiple rounds in order to protect civilians. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said a young teenager seeking shelter at the Malakal base was killed by the bullets after gunfire entered the UN base there on Jan. 14. The mission said dozens of civilians and a UN military officer suffered gunshot wounds inside the base...
and received medical attention at the mission’s hospital. There were no immediate details of the names of those killed and injured. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters at his briefing Jan. that this was not an attack on the UN compound but after fighting erupted between different groups nearby, live rounds and gunfire was coming into the compound. The peacekeepers fired multiple rounds of gunfire to deter anyone engaged in fighting from coming too close to the UN base in order to protect civilians. “The bulk of the peacekeepers (at the base) are from an Indian contingent and multiple rounds were fired to deter those that were fighting each other outside from coming closer to the compound, because of course, had they come closer, more fire could have entered into the compound,” Nesirky added. (PTI)
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