South Sudan gov’t to investigate killings of aid workers
By Simon Deng
The transitional unity government has vowed to open investigations in the aftermath of the recent killing of two humanitarian workers in Eastern Equatoria State.
The attack in Ikotos County occurred on August 11th a few days ahead of World Humanitarian Day.
“We really want to deplore and condemn what happened in Eastern Equatoria last week where two aid staff were ambushed and killed, the government condemns it and we will go for investigation,” Deng Dau Deng, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said during discussion with UN agencies on the new development cooperation framework in Juba on Thursday.
The three people were shot dead in road ambush. The two aid workers were working for Catholic Church Aid Agency.
The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted that the latest incident is the fifth in South Sudan since the beginning of this year.
Sara Beysolow Nyanti, the Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan, said that humanitarian needs in South Sudan remain huge, adding that peace is critical for development across the country.
“We realize that peace is critical for development, we are looking at how we can use the peace, humanitarian and development synergies to then define how we move towards development, if peace comes first and we save lives we can all work together on development,” said Nyanti.
