South Sudan Aid Doctor Killed ‘in Cold Blood’ Amid Rising Attacks

A file photo shows South Sudanese policemen and soldiers are seen along a street following renewed fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba, July 10, 2016 (Photo: Reuters)
A file photo shows South Sudanese policemen and soldiers are seen along a street following renewed fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba, July 10, 2016 (Photo: Reuters)
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South Sudan Aid Doctor Killed ‘in Cold Blood’ Amid Rising Attacks

A file photo shows South Sudanese policemen and soldiers are seen along a street following renewed fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba, July 10, 2016 (Photo: Reuters)
A file photo shows South Sudanese policemen and soldiers are seen along a street following renewed fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba, July 10, 2016 (Photo: Reuters)

A South Sudanese doctor was murdered in the northern, oil-rich Unity state, and colleagues threatened Sunday to go on strike if those responsible are not found.

The murder, which took place Friday, follows the killing of a nurse in April in Eastern Equatoria, a south-eastern state.

On Sunday, a statement released by The South Sudan Doctors’ Union (SSDU), said it was “deeply saddened on the killing of our member, Dr. Louis Edward Saleh in Ganyiel village in Unity State.”

South Sudan is one of the most dangerous countries for humanitarians, with nine aid workers killed there last year, according to the UN.

In January, an aid worker with Joint Aid Management (JAM) was shot dead near Bentiu, which is also in Unity state.

The SSDU said Saleh was working at a clinic sponsored by the International Rescue Committee charity, and was “was killed in cold blood within the facility.”

The IRC did not immediately respond to the report but the regional health ministry said an investigation had been launched.

The SSDU expressed alarm at a series of alleged threats, beatings, arrests, detentions, tortures and killings in several states in recent months.

In mid-May, a humanitarian worker died when an aid convoy came under fire in the west of the country, according to the UN.

The SSDU threatened a strike if investigations are not carried out and those responsible for killing Saleh and the nurse are not found and prosecuted.

South Sudan is struggling to emerge from a six-year civil war that claimed some 380,000 lives and officially ended with the creation of a government of national unity in February last year.



Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested after Occupying University of Washington Building

FILE - Dozens of tents in place as part of a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed White, File)
FILE - Dozens of tents in place as part of a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed White, File)
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Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested after Occupying University of Washington Building

FILE - Dozens of tents in place as part of a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed White, File)
FILE - Dozens of tents in place as part of a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed White, File)

Police arrested about 30 pro-Palestinian protesters who occupied a University of Washington engineering building and demanded the school break ties with Boeing.
Students from the group Super UW moved into the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building in Seattle on Monday evening and unofficially renamed it after Shaban al-Dalou, a teenage engineering student who was killed along with his mother after an Israeli airstrike caused an inferno outside of a Gaza hospital.
The students demanded that the university sever all ties with Boeing, including returning any Boeing donations and barring the company's employees from teaching at or otherwise influencing the school, The Associated Press reported.
Boeing has donated over $100 million to UW since 1917, including $10 million for the engineering building, The Seattle Times reported. Because of Boeing’s donation, the aviation manufacturer was granted naming rights for the building’s second level.
Boeing is a key supplier to the Israeli army, and the country has received more military aid from the US than any other country since World War II.
“We’re hoping to remove the influence of Boeing and other manufacturing companies from our educational space, period, and we’re hoping to expose the repressive tactics of the university,” Super UW spokesperson Eric Horford told KOMO News.
People dressed in black blocked the front of the building with furniture and used dumpsters to block a nearby road, university officials said.
UW police worked with Seattle police to clear the building at around 10:30 p.m., UW spokesperson Victor Balta said in a statement. The people were taken into custody on charges of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, he said. Their cases have been referred to the King County prosecutors.
Any students identified will be referred to the Student Conduct Office, Balta said.
The US Department of Education said in a statement Tuesday that the incident will be investigated.
“The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism appreciates the university’s strong statement condemning last night’s violence and applauds the quick action by law enforcement officers to remove violent criminals from the university campus,” the statement said. “While these are good first steps, the university must do more to deter future violence and guarantee that Jewish students have a safe and productive learning environment."