UN: 2 Aid Workers Shot Dead in South Sudan

Women and children wait to be registered prior to a food distribution carried out by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Thonyor, Leer state, South Sudan, February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola
Women and children wait to be registered prior to a food distribution carried out by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Thonyor, Leer state, South Sudan, February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola
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UN: 2 Aid Workers Shot Dead in South Sudan

Women and children wait to be registered prior to a food distribution carried out by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Thonyor, Leer state, South Sudan, February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola
Women and children wait to be registered prior to a food distribution carried out by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Thonyor, Leer state, South Sudan, February 26, 2017. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola

Two aid workers in South Sudan were shot dead along with four people they were helping after members of an unknown armed group attacked them early this week, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the country said Thursday.

South Sudan is one of the most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian workers even after the country’s five-year civil war ended in 2018. At least 122 have been killed since 2013 including seven this year. Most, like the two killed Monday, have been South Sudanese.

“These terrible acts cannot continue,” UN coordinator Mohamed Ag Ayoya said in a statement calling on South Sudan’s government to do more to protect aid workers who take “significant risks” to help millions of people facing hunger and now the coronavirus pandemic.

The gunmen opened fire as the staffers with an international aid group were providing health and nutrition services to residents, mostly women and children, who tried to flee the scene, the UN statement said. The aid group wasn't identified, The Associated Press reported.

The attack occurred in Pajut town center in restive Jonglei state, which has seen vicious rounds of communal violence that have killed hundreds of people this year and displaced thousands.

The violence in Jonglei has forced aid groups such as Medecins Sans Frontieres and the International Committee of the Red Cross to limit their work there in recent weeks.

“Although the fear of further attacks is palpable in the town, the NGO will continue to provide health care and nutrition services,” the UN said.



Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Vatican Cancels Pope’s Weekend Engagements as He Battles ‘Complex’ Infection 

Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Pedestrians walk past the statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for an infection in Rome, on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

Pope Francis, who began his fifth day in hospital on Tuesday for what doctors have described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday.

A planned public papal audience set for Saturday had been cancelled "due to the health condition of the Holy Father", the Vatican said in a brief statement.

A papal mass scheduled for Sunday will still take place, but will be led instead by a senior Vatican official, it added.

The Vatican said on Monday that doctors had changed the pope's drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to tackle a "complex clinical situation". They described it as a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract".

Doctors say polymicrobial diseases can be caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Francis, who has been pontiff since 2013, has had influenza and other health problems several times over the past two years. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed, and in recent times has been prone to lung infections.