South Sudan ambush kills third Ethiopian peacekeeper

An Ethiopian UN peacekeeper has died from wounds suffered in an ambush in eastern Jonglei state in South Sudan, the United Nations said on September 21.

The attack happened at the end of August in an area that has been a focus of recent conflict between South Sudan's government and opposition forces. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan said on August 24 that two Ethiopian peacekeepers were killed and three others wounded in the attack.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in New York that UNMISS had reported one of the wounded peacekeepers had now died from his injuries. He said the death showed the dangerous conditions faced by peacekeepers.

South Sudan gained independence in 2011 and later fell into civil war. A 2018 power-sharing deal ended the war, but the arrangement has recently been weakening. President Salva Kiir's government hopes to hold the country's first elections in December.