South Sudan General among Dozens Killed in Attack on UN Helicopter

A South Sudanese general and dozens of soldiers have been killed after a United Nations helicopter trying to evacuate them from the northern town of Nasir came under attack, the government has said. The UN said Friday’s incident, which could deal a blow to an already fragile peace process, was “utterly abhorrent” and a possible war crime. A power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and first vice-president Riek Machar has been threatened in recent weeks by clashes between their allied forces in the north-eastern Upper Nile state. The UN crew was trying to airlift soldiers after heavy clashes in Nasir between national forces and the so-called White Army, a militia that Kiir’s government has linked to forces loyal to Machar, his bitter rival…Machar’s spokesperson said earlier this week that security forces had arrested the petroleum minister, the peacebuilding minister, the deputy head of the army and other senior military officials allied with Machar, potentially jeopardising the 2018 peace deal that ended a civil war between Kiir’s and Machar’s forces. The Guardian with Reuters and (AFP)