Four servicemen were injured after a US military aircraft went under rebel fire during a mission to evacuate American citizens in South Sudan on Saturday.
“After receiving fire from the ground while approaching the
site, the aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country
and aborted the mission,” the US military's Africa Command
said in a statement.
AP earlier reported two US aircraft were involved in the
incident, with one vehicle receiving serious damage.
The unnamed official told the agency that one of the injured
servicemen was in critical condition.
The wounded were taken to Nairobi, the capital of neighboring
Kenya, for medical treatment, they said.
According to the officials, the aircrafts used for the evacuation
mission were Ospreys – tiltrotor air vehicles, which can fly like
a plane and a helicopter.
The attack occurred as the aircraft were on their way to the town
of Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei, which saw an
outbreak of violence over the last week.
South Sudan authorities have blamed the assault on renegade
troops loyal to ousted vice-president, Riek Machar.
“Bor is under the control of Machar‘s forces,” Col.
Philip Aguer, South Sudan's military spokesman, said.
According to AP sources, a UN helicopter was hit by gunfire in
Jonglei state on Friday.
The clashes between ethnic groups in the South Sudanese army
erupted on December 16.
President Salva Kiir Mayardit, an ethnic Dinka, said that the
violence was triggered by an attempted coup, which was
masterminded by Machar, an ethnic Nuer.
However, the former vice president, who is currently in hiding,
has denied accusations of attempting to seize power.
The UN said that hundreds of people have already been killed in
the fighting, which spread from the capital, Juba, and has now
reached the country’s vital oilfields.
Kiir’s government has held meetings with African mediators of
Friday, making a Twitter announcement that it’s ready to start
negotiations with any rebel group.
The US has also sent its special envoy, Donald Booth, to South
Sudan to help find a peaceful solution.
“Now is the time for South Sudan’s leaders to rein in armed
groups under their control, immediately cease attacks on
civilians, and end the chain of retributive violence between
different ethnic and political groups,” John Kerry, US
Secretary of State, said in a statement. “The violence must
stop, the dialogue must intensify.”
South Sudanese information minister, Michael Makuei, told Reuters
that an army divisional commander in Unity State, John Koang, had
defected and joined Machar, who had named him the governor of the
state.
Also on Friday, a UN base in Jonglei state was attacked, which
saw two Indian peacekeepers and 11 people from the ethnic Dinka
group killed.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, which gained
independence from Sudan in 2011, has been going through a
political crisis since president Kiir dismissed his government
this July.