S. Sudan gunfire hits 3 U.S. rescue aircraft

In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013 and released by the U.S. Air Force, soldiers of the East Africa Response Force (EARF), a Djibouti-based joint team assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, depart from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules in Juba, South Sudan to support with an ordered departure of personnel from the city. Gunfire hit three U.S. military CV-22 Osprey aircraft Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013 trying to evacuate American citizens in Bor, the capital of the remote region of Jonglei state in South Sudan, that on Saturday became a battle ground between South Sudan's military and renegade troops, officials said, with four U.S. service members wounded in the attack. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Micah Theurich)
In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013 and released by the U.S. Air Force, soldiers of the East Africa Response Force (EARF), a Djibouti-based joint team assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, depart from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules in Juba, South Sudan to support with an ordered departure of personnel from the city. Gunfire hit three U.S. military CV-22 Osprey aircraft Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013 trying to evacuate American citizens in Bor, the capital of the remote region of Jonglei state in South Sudan, that on Saturday became a battle ground between South Sudan's military and renegade troops, officials said, with four U.S. service members wounded in the attack. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force, Tech. Sgt. Micah Theurich)

NAIROBI, Kenya - Gunfire hit three U.S. military aircraft trying to evacuate Americans in a remote region of South Sudan that on Saturday became a battleground between the country’s military and renegade troops, officials said. Four U.S. service members were wounded in the attack in the same region where gunfire downed a United Nations helicopter the day before.

The U.S. aircraft were about to land in Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation’s worst violence in the past week, when they were hit. The military said the four wounded troops were in stable condition.

The U.S. military said three CV-22 Ospreys - which can fly like a helicopter or a plane - were “participating in a mission to evacuate American citizens in Bor.” A South Sudan official said violence against civilians there has resulted in bodies “sprinkled all over town.”

“After receiving fire from the ground while approaching the site, the aircraft diverted to an airfield outside the country and aborted the mission,” according to the statement. “The injured troops are being treated for their wounds.” It was not known how many U.S. civilians are in Bor.

After the aircraft took incoming fire, they were turned around and flown to Entebbe,Uganda. From there the service members were flown to Nairobi, Kenya, aboard a U.S. Air Force C-17 for medical treatment, according to the statement.

One U.S. service member was said to be in surgery Saturday evening.

An official in the region who insisted on anonymity to share information not made public said the Americans did not tell the top commander in Bor - Gen. Peter Gadet, who defected from the South Sudan military last week - that they were flying in, which might have led to the attack. The U.S. statement said the gunfire was from unknown forces.

South Sudan’s military spokesman, Col. Philip Aguer, said government troops are not in control of Bor, so the attack on the U.S. aircraft was carried out by renegade soldiers.

“Bor is under the control of the forces of Riek Machar,” Aguer said, referring to the ousted vice president.

The U.S. troops wounded Saturday were part of a 45-member military contingent that President Barack Obama ordered to South Sudan on Wednesday to protect the U.S. Embassy in Juba and Americans in the country.

The U.S. Embassy said it evacuated at least 450 Americans and other foreigners from Juba last week and had hoped to begin evacuations from Bor. The Ospreys were hit a day after small-arms fire downed a U.N. helicopter in the same state.

The U.N. on Friday sent four helicopters to extract 40 peacekeepers from a base in Yuai, also in Jonglei, U.N. spokesman Joe Contreras said. One helicopter was fired upon and executed an emergency landing in Upper Nile state, he said. There were no casualties.

Michael Makuei Lueth, South Sudan’s information minister, said South Sudanese ground troops, backed by the country’s air force, are fighting rebels in Bor to retake the state capital they lost last week.

“There is fighting going on in Bor town, yes, because since morning they have continued to attack the civilian population,” Lueth said, talking about renegade troops. “They have gone as far as not respecting the U.N. compound.”

As South Sudan has been racked by attacks, there have been mounting concerns about the plight of 35,000 civilians who have sought sanctuary at U.N. peacekeeping bases in the country. About 14,000 are reported to have sought refuge at a base in Bor that is surrounded by 2,000 armed youths, spurring fears that the base might be overrun and the lives of aid workers there threatened.

Lueth said fighting started early Saturday after reports that rebels there were shooting indiscriminately at civilians.

“The bodies are sprinkled all over the town,” he said. No death toll could be estimated, Lueth said.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, said last week that an attempted coup triggered the violence now pulsing through the country. He blamed the former vice president, Machar, an ethnic Nuer. But officials have since said a fight between Dinka and Nuer members of the presidential guard triggered the initial violence last Sunday. Machar’s ouster from the country’s No. 2 political position earlier this year had stoked ethnic tensions.

The violence has left hundreds dead and has world leaders worried that a full-blown civil war could ignite in South Sudan. The south fought a decades-long war with Sudan before a 2005 peace deal resulted in a 2011 referendum that allowed South Sudan to break away from the north, taking most of the region’s oil wealth with it.

Lueth described Machar as “the rebel leader,” saying the forces that control Bor think they are fighting on his behalf. Machar’s whereabouts remain unknown, but he has said in recent interviews that he is in hiding somewhere in South Sudan.

An International Crisis Group expert on South Sudan said Friday that rebels have taken control of at least some of the country’s oil fields, which could draw Sudan into the conflict. South Sudan’s oil flows north through Sudan’s pipelines, providing Khartoum with much-needed income.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday said the week-long violence could affect neighboring countries and the entire region.

Kenya announced it was sending in troops to evacuate 1,600 Kenyans stranded in South Sudan, many of them in Bor.

Last week, Obama dispatched the American troops to help protect the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Juba. The embassy organized at least five emergency evacuation flights to help Americans leave the country. Other countries such as Britain, Germany and Italy also helped people evacuate.

Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, is keeping an eye on the tense situation. He said continued violence and militancy in South Sudan might cost the world’s newest country the support of the U.S. and other nations.

“This conflict can only be resolved peacefully through negotiations,” the White House said in a statement. “Any effort to seize power through the use of military force will result in the end of longstanding support from the United States and the international community.”

Obama said South Sudan’s leaders have a responsibility to help protect Americans.

Secretary of State John Kerry called Kiir to urge the South Sudanese leader to avoid ethnic conflict, preserve the welfare of those fleeing and protect U.S. citizens. Kerry was sending a special envoy to the region and told Kiir that South Sudan’s challenges require leadership and political dialogue, the State Department said.

Mediators from East Africa continued efforts to help negotiate peace. Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said the country has held “productive” talks with Kiir and that discussions were continuing. Kiir has agreed to “unconditional dialogue” to try to stop the violence.

Information for this article was contributed by Jason Straziuso, Tom Strong, Josh Lederman and Rodney Muhumuza of The Associated Press; by Craig Whitlock of The Washington Post; and by Michael R. Gordon and Ismail Kushkush of The New York Times.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/22/2013

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