Fighting around a UN base in northeastern South Sudan has left a teenager dead and dozens of people wounded, including an officer with the peacekeeping force, the United Nations said today.
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said the casualties occurred yesterday at the UN base in the village of Malakal.
Citing reports from the UN mission in South Sudan, Nesirky said "one civilian, a teenager seeking shelter in Malakal, was killed by bullets when gunfire entered the UN base yesterday.
"Dozens of civilians and a UN military officer suffered gunshot wounds and received medical attention at the base," he said.
"The mission said the peacekeepers fired multiple rounds of gunfire to deter anyone involved in the fighting to come too close to its base in order to protect civilians," he said.
Nesirky said the fighting had stopped by today, but the situation remained fluid, with sporadic gunfire still being heard at some distance from the base.
About 20,000 people fleeing factional fighting have taken refuge in the base, which is manned by 1,000 UN troops and 110 police. Some 6,000 civilians are also at the UN base in Bentiu, and another 9,000 at Bor.
Gunfire and explosions also were heard near the UN base at Bor, Nesirky said.
Forces loyal to President Salva Kiir have been fighting rebels backing Vice President Riek Machar in several regions of the country since mid-December.
The fighting has claimed many lives, with estimates ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands of people displaced.
The United Nations accused the army and rebels of looting food stores and humanitarian relief supplies, which Nesirky denounced as "utterly unacceptable.
