MSF worker and four civilians killed in Bentiu area

A Sudanese health worker from the international medical aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was killed last week along with four other civilians, when at least three bombs were dropped in Nimne in the oil-rich area of western Upper Nile (Wahdah, or Unity State), southern Sudan.

An MSF team which visited the site on 14 February received confirmation of 20 year-old James Koang's death, and confirmed that the village had been almost completely deserted. Only 19 people remained in Nimne, Arjan Hehenkamp, MSF head of mission, told IRIN on Monday.

"What is happening in western Upper Nile is unacceptable... We don’t even know where our patients have gone, and a young health worker has been killed, in total violation of the laws of war," MSF said in a press statement released on Friday.

"It's a tragedy for his family, MSF and the community, which can ill afford to lose a health care worker," the MSF project coordinator, Jan van't Land, said.

The bombing closely follows the looting of Nimne, once home to between 1,000 and 1,500 people, by a militia group at the beginning of February. MSF workers and local people had managed to escape just before the soldiers arrived, MSF said. Hundreds fled to Bentiu, 25 km to the west, and other areas in the region. James Koang and a few other individuals had returned a few days later to the village, where Koang was subsequently killed by the bombs on 9 February.

During the looting, homes had been ransacked, personal possessions and food stocks stolen from Nimne residents. MSF medication, food for patients and supplies had been stolen, as well as other medical items destroyed and scattered around the village. MSF described it as "a targeted act of violence against the community in Nimne".

It was not apparent whether the troops responsible had been loyal to the Sudanese forces or the rebels.

MSF staff had been running a health care unit in Nimne, treating between 1,700 and 2,000 patients per month, but were forced to evacuate the area after reports were received that soldiers were heading towards the village. Hehenkamp confirmed to IRIN that he did not expect villagers to return in the near future due to continuing insecurity, and that MSF would be forced to look for an alternative location to establish a clinic.

Since the merger between the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) led by John Garang and Sudan People’s Defence Force (SPDF) led by Riek Machar - announced in early January – the area surrounding Nimne had been targeted, Hehenkamp said. Whereas before it had been unclear which side in the Sudanese conflict the area belonged to, it was now clearly perceived to belong to the rebel side, or those fighting against the Khartoum government, he said.

The region of western Upper Nile, the site of most of Sudan's oilfields, has seen continued fighting between forces loyal to the Sudanese government, the SPDF and the SPLA at various times in recent years, causing the repeated displacement of local people. MSF is one of the few aid agencies which continues to work in the area.

Nimne was previously attacked in July 2000 by SPLA troops, who were fighting against the SPDF at the time, MSF confirmed.