The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has condemned a roadside ambush, which killed eleven people, including five journalists in Raja County, Western Bahr al Ghazal state.
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has condemned a roadside ambush, which killed eleven people, including five journalists in Raja County, Western Bahr al Ghazal state.
In a statement, UNMISS called on local, state and national authorities to investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.
On Sunday, unidentified gunmen ambushed a two-car convoy transporting the new County Commissioner of Raja, James Benjamin, and journalists on their way back to Raja County.
“We condemn the ambush, but also we are calling upon the authorities to do their best to investigate this incident...We have full confidence that the investigation is going to be carried out in a proper and professional manner and we are not directly involved,” said Ariane Quentier, spokesperson of the UN Mission in the country.
The County Commissioner Maru Adama James, who was in one of the vehicles, and was injured during the attack, said among the victims were five journalists from Raja FM, including its acting director.
“I was on an official trip to a place called Sepo to check on people that were attacked by Tontong - LRA and they killed children and wounded others. We checked on them and brought an ambulance to transport them to Raja Hospital. While returning back we fall into an ambush between Mangayat and Sepo. The first attack was on my car then on the guard’s car and then the one behind me which had the journalists. They killed all of them and burned them,” he said.
The army is accusing Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group of being responsible for the ambush in Raja.
Speaking to media from Wau, Governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal state Rizik Zachariah said the killing is the act of terrorist and the perpetrators must be brought to book.
The SPLA spokesperson Col. Philip Aguer claims the weapons and methods used are similar to those witnessed in previous attacks by the terrorist group in Northern Uganda.
"It is a terrorist act linked to barbarism acts committed by the LRA forces in northern Uganda or within South Sudan. This is a simple indication that this work was carried out by the LRA. The preliminary information we have is the LRA forces are the ones responsible," he said.
He says military leadership has sent a force to secure the area and hold a preliminary investigation into the incident.
Meanwhile, UNESCO has urged for urgent measures to improve safety of media workers in South Sudan. The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, denounced the killing of the five journalists and urged measures to improve the safety of media workers in the country.
“I condemn the killing of Musa Mohammed Dahiyah, Butrus Martin Khamis, Dalia Marko, Randa George Adam, and Adam Juma Adam,” the Director-General said. “These deaths are a blow to freedom of information and freedom of expression and I call on the authorities to do all in their power to ensure that these essential rights are protected and that journalists can carry out their work in safe conditions.”
The journalists—Musa Mohammed Dahiyah, of South Sudan Radio Wau; Butrus Martin Khamis, of South Sudan Television (SSTV); Dalia Marko, Randa George Adam and Adam Juma Adam—of Raja Radio Station—were travelling in a convoy with local officials in Western Bahr el Ghazal State on 25 January when they were attacked by unidentified gunmen. A total of eleven people were killed in the attack. Two of the journalists, Dalia Marko and Randa George Adam, were women.
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