U.N. Helicopter Attacked as South Sudan Teeters on Brink
Africa|U.N. Helicopter Attacked as South Sudan Teeters on Brink
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/world/africa/un-helicopter-attack-south-sudan.html
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The aircraft came under fire as it tried to rescue wounded soldiers, the United Nations said. The attack came amid fears that a critical power-sharing deal was at risk of collapse, risking all-out civil war.
Gunmen attacked a United Nations helicopter on an evacuation mission in a volatile part of South Sudan on Friday, killing one crew member and injuring two others, the United Nations said.
The helicopter crew was trying to rescue wounded South Sudanese soldiers in Upper Nile State, an attempt to defuse tensions in the area, the United Nations said. It added that the wounded soldiers had also been killed. It did not say whether the helicopter was on the ground or airborne when it came under assault, but one armed group called the White Army said the shooting erupted as the men prepared to board.
The attack followed days of spiking political tensions in the east African nation, the world’s youngest country, amid growing fears among residents and Western officials that it was tumbling toward a new civil conflict.
In a speech appealing for calm, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan vowed not to let that happen. “Let no one take law into their hands,” he said on Friday. “The government which I lead will handle this crisis.”
But critics said that Mr. Kiir and rival leaders were largely responsible for the crisis.
A power-sharing agreement between Mr. Kiir and his first vice president, Riek Machar, ended a brutal civil war in 2018; in recent weeks, it has teetered on the brink of collapse as forces loyal to both men have clashed in Upper Nile State.
South Sudan’s information minister said that 27 soldiers were killed in the helicopter attack on Friday but provided no other detail, and the figure could not be confirmed independently.