The United Nations now says at least 25 people were killed and some 120 wounded in last month’s attack on a UN civilian shelter in Malakal, South Sudan.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) updated its toll Friday, two weeks after the February 17 and 18 ordeal at the camp where some 47,000 people have taken refuge from South Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
According to OCHA, there are ‘credible reports’ of armed men from Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army entering the camp and firing on civilians during the two-day siege. The report also says in addition to the 25 dead and 120 wounded, some 3,700 families’ shelters were destroyed or damaged in addition to clinics, water tankers, nutrition centers and schools.
OCHA officials say they have been working to bring the camp back to normal and that humanitarian partners have ‘rapidly mobilized’ staff and supplies to tend to the additional needs at the camp since the attack.
Humanitarian partners are setting up emergency latrines, distributing hygiene and sanitation items, and establishing temporary clinics to continue providing services.
Efforts are also ongoing in the town of Malakal, near the camp, to establish services for the estimated 4,000 people who fled the camp during and after the attack, seeking shelter in the town instead.
