Six aid workers who went missing four days ago in the South Sudan had made a safe return. The UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan confirmed the news. The employees of two foreign and one national organization went missing during the clashes between government and rebel forces in the Bahr el-Ghazal region, with both sides accusing the other of having attacked the aid workers.
The region in which the aid workers went missing has been the centre of fierce fighting between the government and rebel forces since 2016. The NGOs were working on issues of food security in the country which is faced with a severe humanitarian crisis after four years of war.
According to the government officials, “Rebels aligned with former vice-president Riek Machar had kidnapped the workers during clashes, while the rebels said they had “rescued” the workers from government forces.”
One of the France-based Solidarites International NGOs said, “Its three workers had been “retrieved Wednesday” and were “out of danger”, but did not give further details on what had transpired.”
The UN co-ordinator Alain Noudehou, welcomed the news of the safe return of the six aid workers who went missing four days ago and also thanked the World Food Programme(WFP) for its generous efforts.
Three people delivering food aid were brutally killed in the second largest city of Wau in April, a sign of the difficulties for humanitarian workers in dealing with the fallout from a conflict which has killed tens of thousands and driven nearly four million from their homes. In eastern Jonglei, 60 humanitarian workers had to flee fighting in April.
