NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI) -- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the deadly attack on a UN compound in South Sudan on Thursday and called it "a serious escalation."
According to the UN Mission in South Sudan, "At the time of the attack, there were some 5,000 displaced civilians in a protection-of-civilians site (POC) inside the base. A yet to be confirmed number of these civilians were killed or wounded by these assailants who came under the guise of peaceful demonstrators intending to present a petition to UNMISS."
UNMISS reported that peacekeepers fired warning shots, but that the armed mob forced its way into the site and opened fire on the civilians in the base. "UNMISS peacekeepers returned fire, and the mob retreated from the base" UNMISS said in a statement posted to its website on Friday.
A UN spokesperson in South Sudan said Friday that at least 48 people were killed in the attack and dozens seriously injured.
The UN secretary-general noted that such an attack on peacekeepers "constitutes a war crime." The government of South Sudan, he said, must "immediately take steps to ensure the safety of all UNMISS Protection of Civilians sites in South Sudan."
[UNMISS] [CNN] [United Nations]
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