Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today expressed anguish over the killing of five Indian army personnel during a United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.
In his condolence message to the bereaved families, Dr. Singh said: “I pay tribute to our brave soldiers.”
A Lt. Colonel was among the five army personnel killed yesterday when their 32-member convoy came under attack in Gumuruk in the volatile state of Jonglei, South Sudan. Four others were injured in the attack.
Jonglei has been the scene of widespread ethnic conflict since South Sudan became independent in July 2011. Much of the trouble has been in Pibor county, where the UN peacekeeping force is based.
An Indian soldier was shot and wounded there in March amid high tensions about an imminent government crackdown, and a UN helicopter was downed in December.
India is a major contributor to UN peacekeeping forces around the world and has suffered losses in the past.
In 2010, rebels hacked to death three Indians in their camp in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said the Ministry of External Affairs was arranging for the bodies of its peacekeepers in South Sudan to be returned home.
——–ANI