A large armed group on motorbikes looted five lorries loaded with food supplies outside of the UN compound in Bor town of Jonglei State in South Sudan, a UN agency said.
In a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the Lorries were loaded with 100 metric tonnes of WFP food assistance, enough to feed more than 11,000 people for one month.
“The food was to support those in most need living in Twic East. Almost seven metric tonnes of the food was looted in the attack. Following the incident, WFP has paused movements out of Bor for the third time this year,” it said.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP Representative to South Sudan, said the organisation has been grappling with a significant number of attacks on its convoys this year.
“To have lorries attacked on the perimeter of the UN compound is beyond unacceptable and we have no choice but to pause operations out of Bor until the safety and security of our staff and assets can be assured. This will have an impact upon more than a million people in Jonglei and Pibor, many of whom are women and children, who rely on the assistance WFP provides,” McGoarty added.
Also, the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim (ai) in South Sudan, Mr. Peter Van der Auweraert, strongly condemned what he termed a targeted attack and looting of humanitarian assets outside the UN Compound in Bor.
