Africa

Africa

UN Security Council strongly deplores shooting down of UN helicopter in South Sudan

22 December 2012 03:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The UN Security Council on Friday strongly deplored the shooting down of a UN helicopter in South Sudan and "strongly urged" the UN mission in the country, known as the UNMISS, and the South Sudanese government "to conduct a swift and thorough investigation" into the incident, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The members of the Security Council strongly deplored the shooting down in Jonglei, the largest state in the eastern part of South Sudan, a UNMISS MI8 helicopter performing reconnaissance flights to the area, by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), with all four Russian flight members killed, said a UN statement.

"The members of the security council extended their heartfelt condolences to the families of the crew, members and to the government of the Russian Federation," the statement said.

"Distressed that this accident constitutes a grave violation of the status of forces agreement of Aug. 8, 2011, and jeopardized the UNMISS operations, they strongly urged UNMISS and the government of South Sudan to conduct a swift and thorough investigation of the accident," the statement said.

"The members of the Security Council also strongly urged the government of South Sudan to hold those responsible for the accident accountable and take all necessary measures to avoid such tragic accidents in the future," said the statement.

The South Sudanese military told the UMISS the shooting took place just "by accident," Farhan Haq, the associate UN spokesman, told Xinhua.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July last year, six years after the signing of a peace agreement that ended decades of warfare between the north and the south. During the same month, the UN Security Council established UNMISS with the purpose of consolidating peace and security and to help establish conditions for development.