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Attack on U.S. Aircraft Foils Evacuation in South Sudan Attack on U.S. Aircraft Foils Evacuation in South Sudan
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — United States aircraft flying into a heavily contested region of South Sudan to evacuate American citizens were attacked on Saturday and forced to turn back without completing the mission, American officials said. Four service members were wounded, one seriously. WASHINGTON — Three United States aircraft flying into a heavily contested region of South Sudan to evacuate American citizens were attacked on Saturday morning and forced to turn back without completing the mission, American officials said. Four service members were wounded, one seriously.
South Sudanese officials said the attack had been carried out by rebel forces. The United States had been evacuating Americans from the country, where a political crisis exploded in violence last week, for several days, but the mission on Saturday was the first into rebel-controlled territory.
The aborted mission to Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, was the first American military incursion into rebel-held territory in the country. Previous evacuation flights had been organized in Juba, the capital. The Special Operations forces took off from Djibouti heading for Bor, the capital of Jonglei State, where some 14,000 refugees were holed up in a United Nations compound surrounded by armed young men, American officials said.
President Obama said on Thursday that he had sent 45 American service members to South Sudan to “support the security of U.S. personnel and our embassy.” As the aircraft, tilt-rotor CV-22 Ospreys, which can fly like an airplane and land like a helicopter, approached Bor around 10 a.m. local time, they “were fired on by small-arms fire by unknown forces,” the military said in a statement.
The Obama administration has not said how many Americans are trapped in Bor, whether they are in imminent danger or what options Mr. Obama is considering to evacuate them. All three aircraft were damaged and were diverted to Entebbe, Uganda, about 500 miles away. The four wounded service personnel were then ferried by a C-17 transport plane to Nairobi, Kenya, for medical care.
Some 14,000 civilians are reported to have sought refuge at a United Nations base in Bor. It is surrounded by 2,000 armed youths, spurring fears that the base may be overrun and the lives of aid workers threatened. By early Sunday, all were reported to be in stable condition.
Armed youths seized a United Nations base in another town, Akobo, last week, killing at least 13 people, including two United Nations peacekeepers. One American official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing military operations, said that the pilots had believed they were flying into a generally “permissive environment.”
On Saturday, the American military sent three CV-22 Ospreys — tilt-rotor aircraft that can fly like an airplane and land like a helicopter — to Bor to evacuate American citizens from the United Nations compound. As the aircraft approached the town, “they were fired on by small-arms fire by unknown forces,” the military said in a statement. All three aircraft were damaged. The Obama administration has not said how many Americans remained trapped in Bor, the extent to which they were in danger or what options President Obama might be considering to evacuate them.
The mission was aborted and the Ospreys flew about 500 miles to Entebbe, Uganda. The service member who was seriously wounded was taken to Nairobi, Kenya, where he was said to be in surgery on Saturday evening. Three others had minor injuries, American officials said. Mr. Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii, was briefed on the situation in a conference call Saturday with Susan E. Rice, his national security adviser, and other senior aides.
As attacks have racked South Sudan, there has been mounting concern about the safety of 35,000 civilians who have sought sanctuary at United Nations peacekeeping bases in the country. The White House said in a statement afterward that Mr. Obama had reaffirmed the importance of continuing to work with the United Nations “to secure our citizens in Bor” and “underscored that South Sudan’s leaders have a responsibility” to support efforts there and in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.
The crisis in South Sudan began last week when its president — Salva Kiir, a member of the majority Dinka ethnic group — asserted that he had uncovered a coup and detained 11 people, including former ministers. Mr. Kiir claimed the coup was backed by former Vice President Riek Machar, who is a member of the rival Nuer ethnic group.
As the violence grew, President Obama sent 45 American troops to protect the embassy in Juba. The United States also organized evacuation flights that have already ferried at least 450 American Embassy personnel, other Americans and some citizens of other nations out of the country.
As attacks have racked South Sudan, however, there has been mounting concern about the safety of 35,000 civilians who have sought sanctuary at United Nations peacekeeping bases, as well as the safety of the peacekeepers themselves.
Armed youths seized a United Nations base in another town, Akobo, on Thursday, killing at least 13 people, including two United Nations peacekeepers.
About 2,000 armed youths have surrounded the United Nations base in Bor. It has been difficult for American officials to get in touch with local rebel commanders there to establish what areas they might control amid signs that the fighting may be escalating into a broader ethnic conflict. 
“It is an unpredictable situation,” said a State Department official, who asked not to be identified because he was discussing diplomatic efforts. “We are deeply concerned, and we are trying to do everything we can to get our American citizens out.”
Flying the Americans out from the nearby airport was not an option, officials said, since it was under the control of a military officer who has broken with South Sudan’s president.
American officials said that they did not think that the mission would be unduly risky, because they believed that helicopters had been flying to and from the United Nations compound in Bor without incident.
But a United Nations official, who asked not to be identified, said that a United Nations helicopter that was extracting agency personnel and South Sudanese people from Yuai, also in Jonglei  State, on Friday was fired on.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in South Sudan includes about 6,800 soldiers and 700 police officers.
A Pentagon official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was reviewing “further options” presented by Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the head of the United States’ Africa Command, to support the humanitarian mission in South Sudan.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Mr. Kiir shortly after midnight Friday to discuss the need to avoid ethnic violence, and the safety of American citizens there. Mr. Kerry also sent Donald Booth, a special envoy, to South Sudan to encourage a diplomatic solution.
“The situation in Bor is very dire,” said Catherine Howard, the deputy head of the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office. “Humanitarians are unable to operate safely. People have been uprooted. There is looting.”“The situation in Bor is very dire,” said Catherine Howard, the deputy head of the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office. “Humanitarians are unable to operate safely. People have been uprooted. There is looting.”
Mr. Obama met with his top security officials on Saturday morning in Hawaii, where he is on vacation with his family. The White House said he was briefed on the status of the wounded troops, and on the safety of American citizens in Bor and embassy personnel in Juba.
The White House said that Mr. Obama “reaffirmed the importance” of working with the United Nations to secure American citizens in Bor, and that South Sudan’s leaders had “a responsibility to support our efforts to secure American personnel and citizens in Juba and Bor.”
On Friday night, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the United States’ main focus was on seeking a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
“Now is the time for South Sudan’s leaders to rein in armed groups under their control, immediately cease attacks on civilians and end the chain of retributive violence between different ethnic and political groups,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement. “The violence must stop, the dialogue must intensify.”
To encourage such efforts, Donald E. Booth, the United States’ special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, left for the region on Friday.
A Pentagon official said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was reviewing additional options presented by Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the head of the United States Africa Command, to support the humanitarian mission in South Sudan. He did not provide details.
Bor is in an especially violent region that is no longer controlled by government forces, according to Col. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the South Sudan military.
President Salva Kiir, a member of the Dinka ethnic group, has attributed the violence to an attempted coup by former Vice President Riek Machar, who is a member of the rival Nuer ethnic group.
The United States and some European nations have organized flights to evacuate their citizens from the capital.
But thousands of civilians remain at risk, as do United Nations peacekeepers. In the attack in Akobo, 2,000 Nuer youths took over the base, killing Dinka civilians and two Indian peacekeepers who tried to protect the civilians.
The United Nations peacekeeping force includes about 6,800 soldiers and 700 police officers.
Analysts and aid officials warned that the fighting could represent the beginning of a very dangerous ethnic conflict in South Sudan, which was born after one of the late 20th century’s bloodiest wars.Analysts and aid officials warned that the fighting could represent the beginning of a very dangerous ethnic conflict in South Sudan, which was born after one of the late 20th century’s bloodiest wars.
“Day by day we are moving closer to a civil war,” said Casie Copeland, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, a research and advocacy institution. “We are seeing reports of horrific ethnic violence.”“Day by day we are moving closer to a civil war,” said Casie Copeland, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, a research and advocacy institution. “We are seeing reports of horrific ethnic violence.”
Conditions inside the United Nations base in Bor are deteriorating, Ms. Copeland said, and the South Sudanese civilians and foreign aid workers taking shelter there are in grave danger. Conditions inside the United Nations base in Bor were deteriorating, she said, and the South Sudanese civilians and foreign aid workers taking shelter there were in grave danger. “We have the U.N. in very tenuous positions, protecting large number of civilians with a very small number of troops,” she said.
“We have the U.N. in very tenuous positions, protecting large number of civilians with a very small number of troops,” she said.
Troops from neighboring Uganda and Kenya have started to arrive in South Sudan, ostensibly to help protect civilians and restore order. But in a region where civil wars easily become regional conflicts, analysts expressed worry that the addition of foreign troops to the mix, particularly if they take sides, could make things worse.Troops from neighboring Uganda and Kenya have started to arrive in South Sudan, ostensibly to help protect civilians and restore order. But in a region where civil wars easily become regional conflicts, analysts expressed worry that the addition of foreign troops to the mix, particularly if they take sides, could make things worse.

Isma’il Kushkush contributed reporting from Khartoum, Sudan.

Reporting was contributed by Isma’il Kushkush from Khartoum, Sudan; Lydia Polgreen from Johannesburg; Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker from Washington; and Somini Sengupta from New York.