In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, and released by the U.S. Air Force, soldiers of the East Africa Response Force (EARF), a Djibouti-based joint team assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, depart from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules in Juba, South Sudan, to support with an ordered departure of personnel from the city. Gunfire hit three U.S. military CV-22 Osprey aircraft Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013, trying to evacuate American citizens in Bor, the capital of the remote region of Jonglei state in South Sudan. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Micah Theurich)
Four U.S. service members were wounded Saturday when rebel fire hit three U.S. military aircraft responding to the outbreak in violence in South Sudan, as the Obama administration threatened to withdraw support to the new nation.
South Sudan blamed the attack on renegade troops in control of a breakaway region.
The U.S. military aircraft were heading to Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation’s worst violence over the last week. One American service member was reported to be in critical condition.
Officials said after the aircraft took incoming fire, they turned around and headed to Kampala, Uganda. From there the service members were flown on to Nairobi, Kenya, for medical treatment, the officials said.
One official said it appeared the aircraft were Ospreys, the type of aircraft that can fly like a helicopter and a plane.
South Sudan’s military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said that government troops are not in control of Bor, so the attack on the U.S. aircraft has to be blamed on renegade soldiers, he said.
Hours before the attack on U.S. forces, White House National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice sent a recorded message to the region urging an end to the violence that has killed an estimated 500 people in the past week.
“The violence we’re seeing now is a grave threat to your young nation,” Ms. Rice said in the audio recording. “Continued fighting — and the specter of ethnic violence — could tear apart the nation you so painstakingly knit together. We know all too well what horrors can occur when irresponsible provocateurs pit tribe against tribe and brother against brother.”
She warned that the U.S. could withdraw support for the nation that was created from Sudan in 2011.
“If individuals or groups seek to take or hold power through force, mass violence or intimidation, the United States will have no choice but to withdraw our traditional, robust support,” Ms. Rice said. “Killing will only lead to deprivation and isolation for the people of South Sudan.”
South Sudan President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, said this week that an attempted coup triggered the violence now pulsing through South Sudan.
The U.S. military said in a statement that its aircraft was attacked as it approached Bor, which is occupied by forces loyal to the rebel former Vice-President Riek Machar.
“After receiving fire from the ground while approaching the site, the aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country and aborted the mission,” the statement said.
A number of other countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from South Sudan.
Mr. Obama participated in a secure call from Hawaii Saturday with Ms. Rice, Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken and other top aides to receive an update on the situation in South Sudan. The White House said Mr. Obama was “pleased” that the wounded service members are in stable condition and reaffirmed the importance of continuing to work with the United Nations to protect U.S. citizens there.
Post a Comment