Two UN peacekeepers killed in South Sudan ambush

Two United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in eastern South Sudan on Monday, the UN Mission in South Sudan said.

UNMISS said the attack by unidentified armed individuals happened in Jonglei state as a patrol was heading to the town of Pajut. It said seven others were injured, including three peacekeepers, two South Sudan National Police Service personnel and two civilian staff.

The mission said the ambush could constitute war crimes and that it had deployed a Quick Reaction Force to the area.

Anita Kiki Gbeho, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of UNMISS, condemned what she called deadly violence targeting UNMISS personnel and offered condolences to the families of those killed.

Jonglei state has been a focus of recent conflict between government and opposition forces. UNMISS said earlier this month that 36 humanitarian workers had been killed in South Sudan so far this year.

South Sudan gained independence in 2011 and later fell into civil war. A 2018 power-sharing deal ended the conflict, but the arrangement has come under severe strain as President Salva Kiir's government attempts to hold the country's first elections in December.

A UN-appointed Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned last week that elections in current conditions could fuel renewed conflict and atrocity crimes. The UN has also warned that food assistance to refugees and displaced people may end within weeks because of funding shortages.

Overall, 7.8 million people face acute food insecurity in South Sudan, and 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished.