South Sudan to protect Ethiopian peacekeepers

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – The South Sudan government said it would protect Ethiopian peacekeepers who recently refused to return to Ethiopia.

Deng Dau Deng, deputy minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told Anadolu Agency Friday the government will give the asylum-seekers protection, directing them to contact the country's Refugee Commission.

On Monday, several UN peacekeepers were injured during an internal brawl when 15 peacekeepers in South Sudan, originally from Ethiopia's restive Tigray region, refused to return to Ethiopia.

"We are concerned and disturbed by the events that occurred at Juba International Airport on Monday when the peacekeepers fought among themselves," Deng said.

He said he had raised the government's concern about the confrontations among peacekeepers during his meeting with the UN force commander in Juba. "We do not want a repeat of such incident."

Early this week, the UN said that 169 members of the Ethiopian contingent were due to rotate out of the capital Juba to be replaced by a fresh deployment as part of the normal UNMISS rotation of peacekeepers. Approximately 15 members of the contingent chose not to board the flight at the Juba International Airport and a scuffle broke out, resulting in some minor injuries.

Ethiopia's Tigray region has been the scene of fighting since last November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced military operations against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), accusing them of attacking the federal army camps.

The government troops took control of the regional capital Mekele in late November, but the TPLF vowed to fight on, and clashes have persisted in the Horn of Africa country, hampering efforts to deliver humanitarian aid.