Up to two women were wounded in an attack on the UN base in Malakal, capital of Upper Nile state, when SPLA elements and allied militia targeted unarmed civilians inside, witnesses said.

Tunguar Wuor, an displaced person (IDP) sheltering inside the UN base, told Radio Tamazuj that government troops have been approaching the UN camp and start shooting at civilians sheltering from South Sudan's war.

“The same people who shot at us the day before yesterday came again yesterday and shot us. So as a result about two women were wounded, one woman was shot in the neck and another shot in the leg,” he said.

He said the incident took place yesterday around 4:55 pm. Tunguar added the two wounded women were shot when fetching water inside the camp.

More than 30,000 civilians are taking shelter inside the UN's Malakal base to escape violence from South Sudan's civil war. Government troops and their allied militia recently gained control of Malakal after it was taken over earlier in the month by Major General Johnson Olony, who is fighting alongside SPLA-IO rebels.

Another IDP named Deng Majok confirmed that government troops attacked the UN base yesterday, saying one woman was wounded. He told Radio Tamazuj that some of the attackers were in military uniform while others with civilian’s clothes.

Deng also accused the government troops of abducting eight women who went out of the base to collect firewood, and that it is still difficult for IDPs to venture beyond the perimeter.

“The abducted women haven’t yet returned back up to now, I don’t know what happened to them, maybe they have been killed because if you go outside you can be killed,” he explained.

Rising tension inside the base

A third IDP named Peter Deng, who is a community leader in the base, told Radio Tamazuj that he was not sure about the wounded and the abducted women in Malakal town yesterday, but disclosed that government forces today Sunday burned down citizen’s shops outside the UN base in Malakal town.

Malakal town, and the population inside the base, hosts mixed ethnicities including Dinka, Shilluk, and Nuer people.

“They burned down shops and cars and other properties at the gate especially eastern entry that divides between the Dinka and Shilluk tribes,” he said.

Peter added that there is rising violence and tension between different ethnic groups in the UN base ever SPLA government troops retook Malakal.

He said that clashes have erupted between members of the Shilluk and Dinka tribes, besides clashes between the Nuer and Dinka tribes.

Peter said four people were injured from the Shilluk side, and that a random shooting by the SPLA forces wounded about five people including two children inside the UN base.

The community leader confirmed that there was still mounting tension between the three tribes inside the base.

Peter called upon the UN peacekeeping forces to provide full protection for the internally displaced persons sheltering in the Malakal PoC, warning against a deteriorating security situation if measures are not in place to control the situation as soon as possible.

He added the community has buried several bodies over the last two weeks killed in the recent fighting in Malakal.