Red Cross halts operations in northern S. Sudan after gun attack

JUBA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday that it has suspended aid delivery in the northern South Sudanese region of Leer, following a gun attack on its compound.

The ICRC said in a statement that armed men fired shots at its base in Leer on the night of April 10, injuring one of its security guards in the leg.

The relief agency said it has halted distribution of much needed seeds and farming tools to an estimated 24,600 people due to safety concerns.

"We are shocked and disappointed by this attack, which is not only an attack on the ICRC, but also on the people we are here to assist," said Francois Stamm, the ICRC's head of delegation in South Sudan.

"Aid workers are not a target and attacks such as this only compound the suffering of the South Sudanese people," he added.

Stamm said security conditions for humanitarian workers have deteriorated in recent weeks in the region, adding that the suspension of aid operations there would hamper efforts to fight worsening food insecurity.

"This attack has meant that 16,000 people have now been left without the supplies they need to plant their crops at a time when food security is worsening across the country," said Stamm.

Leer was one of two areas where famine was officially declared in the world's youngest nation last year, and it also remains a major flashpoint in the country's nearly five-year-long civil war.

This was the second time in less than a year that the Red Cross suspended operations in parts of South Sudan.

In September last year, the ICRC briefly stopped operations after one of its drivers was shot dead during a road ambush in the former Western Equatoria State.

"We take this opportunity to remind all parties to the conflict that any attack on humanitarian aid workers is unacceptable and a violation of international humanitarian law," Stamm stressed.

The UN has described South Sudan as one of the deadliest countries for the delivery of humanitarian aid. At least 90 aid workers have been killed and dozens captured by armed groups since the east African country slid into violence in December 2013. Enditem