Two staff of the relief organization International Rescue Committee were killed last Thursday in the attack on the UN base in Bor town, when armed gunmen overran the base perimeter targeting unarmed civilians inside.

At least 60 people were killed in the attack last Thursday. At the time of the attack about 5,000 people were living inside the camp, unable to leave because of killings carried out previously near the UN base.

Almost all of them are ethnically Nuer, part of a substantial Nuer minority who were living in the town of Bor before the events of last December.

One victim of the recent attack, John Gatkouth, worked as a dispenser in the IRC health clinic. Three of his four young children were injured in the violence that took his life.

The second victim was Mary Nyalou Chol, who worked as a cleaner in the IRC health clinic. She had been living in the town of Bor before seeking shelter at the UN base after violence erupted last December.

She was killed as she tried to escape the attackers, according to a press statement by IRC.

In addition, two South Sudanese health clinic employees were injured. The first, Gisma Bol, has been airlifted to Juba for additional treatment; the second, David Thuok, received initial care on site and is awaiting an airlift to another facility. Both are in stable condition.

“This is a profound loss for the IRC. Our thoughts are with the families of those who were killed and injured,” said the IRC’s president, David Miliband.

“Our colleagues in the field often work in perilous situations, like Bor, in order to serve the most vulnerable people affected by conflict. It is a mark of the humanity and commitment of our staff that they devote themselves to those in need at such great risk to themselves.”

The aid organization works in the fields of health care, child survival and women’s protection programs. At the UN base in Bor, the IRC provides primary health services.

Related coverage:

S. Sudan minister says slain Bor civilians were ‘intolerable’, ‘rebels’ (19 Apr.)

Armed youth, uniformed gunmen attack UN camp in Bor killing 60 (17 Apr.)

Trapped civilians in Bor denied secondary healthcare (4 Apr.)

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