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1st LD: Gunmen attack UN base in S. Sudan, at least 7 dead

Xinhua, February 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least seven people were killed on Thursday and many others injured when unidentified gunmen attacked a United Nations base in Malakal, the capital city of Upper Nile State in South Sudan.

"Gunmen attacked the base on Thursday morning and killed seven people," Deng Amon, a native administration leader in the base, told Xinhua by phone. "There are many others injured but they have not been counted yet."

"It was a brutal and sudden attack, where the attackers used machine guns and Kalashnikov rifles against helpless civilians," he added.

"They opened fire directly on the civilians. The situation is still tense despite withdrawal of the attackers. There is a state of panic inside the base," Amon said.

The UN base in Malakal is sheltering around 50,000 civilians out of about 201,000 South Sudanese displaced persons living in eight UN bases across the country.

South Sudan plunged into violence in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir Mayardit and defectors led by his former deputy, Riek Machar.

The clashes have left thousands of South Sudanese dead and forced around 1.9 million people to flee their homes. Endit