6 March 2014 - Concerned by gunfire near its compounds in Juba last night, UNMISS has called on all parties to respect the work and inviolability of UN premises, which are protecting some 43,000 civilians in the capital.

Juba is “tense” with some shots fired, a UN spokesperson told journalists in New York, citing the latest information from UNMISS. “However, the situation within the compound is calm.”

On a patrol in the Upper Nile State town of Malakal yesterday, the Mission reported “much of the town empty of opposition forces, with the opposition forces’ headquarters abandoned”.

Following heavy clashes and reports of people being killed in churches and hospitals in the northern town in February, fighting has spread further north in the state. There are now fears that 30,000 or more civilians may be freshly displaced.

Meanwhile, UNMISS today confirmed in a statement it will investigate an error in the transport of weapons for a new Ghanaian peacekeeping contingent.

The cargo was apparently mislabeled and transferred by road as part of a cargo of general goods.

Calling the incident “regrettable”, the mission said an investigation team will urgently look into this matter, in cooperation with the South Sudanese government.

“It is the policy of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) that during the crisis in South Sudan all arms and ammunition for the peacekeeping contingents are flown into respective areas and not taken by road,” a spokesperson said. “This is an important security measure.”

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and some 870,000 others have fled their homes, 145,000 of them to neighbouring countries and 75,000 to UN bases within the country, since fighting broke out on 15 December between the forces of President Salva Kiir and former deputy president Riek Machar.