South Sudan deploys troops to guard UN compound

"The army has come in now. They have been ordered to protect UNMISS (the UN Mission in South Sudan) so there will be no attack from anybody," media outlets quoted Ateny Wek Ateny, President Salva Kiir's spokesman, as saying.

The troop deployment came on Friday after armed men attacked people sheltering inside the UN peacekeeping base in violence-wracked Jonglei state. The deadly attack took place on Thursday in the town of Bor at the camp where some 5,000 civilians are seeking refuge.

The UN base is home to thousands of refugees who have fled their homes due to the ongoing violence in the country.

Officials said at least 58 people were killed in the attack. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

UN officials blame the attack on armed mobs in civilian clothes. But the government accuses the UN peacekeepers of provoking the shootout and sheltering supporters of the former vice president, Riek Machar.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the attack on the UN compound.

Ban said in a statement on Thursday that the attack amounted to a “war crime”.

"Any attack on the United Nations peacekeepers is unacceptable and constitutes a war crime," the UN chief said in the statement issued hours after the attack.

The fighting between troops of Kiir, who is from the Dinka ethnic group, and Machar, a Nuer, erupted around the capital Juba on December 15 last year.

The armed conflict has claimed thousands of lives and forced over a million to flee their homes over the past months.

HK