S.Sudan downs UN helicopter, killing four
South Sudan's army shot down a United Nations peacekeeping helicopter in the restive Jonglei state on Friday, killing the four Russian crew members onboard, U.N. and military officials said.A U.N. source said the helicopter was on a reconnaissance mission in an area where the SPLA, South Sudan's army, has been fighting rebels led by David Yau Yau.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the attack on the "clearly marked" helicopter and in a statement called "on the government of South Sudan to immediately carry out an investigation and bring to account those responsible for this act."He demanded measures be put in place to prevent any further incidents in South Sudan, where the U.N. mission, known as UNMISS, was created after it seceded from Sudan in July 2011.The U.N. Security Council echoed Ban's remarks, saying in a statement that it "strongly deplored" the incident, which it said was a "grave violation of the Status of Forces Agreement" between South Sudan and UNMISS and jeopardized the operations of the mission.South Sudan's army first denied it had shot down the Russian helicopter but later said it had mistaken it for a Sudanese plane supplying Yau Yau rebels in Jonglei."We regret the incident," army spokesman Philip Aguer said, adding an artillery unit had spotted a plane landing in an area where Yau Yau forces were operating."We saw a white plane landing and asked UNMISS whether they had any flight in the area but they denied it. The army opened fire because it thought it was an enemy plane supplying Yau Yau with weapons." he said. "We later heard UNMISS had a flight there. They should have informed us."Russia called on South Sudan to punish those responsible for shooting down a United Nations helicopter, killing its four Russian crew, and take steps to ensure such incidents do not happen again.A Russian Foreign Ministry statement named the victims and said the "tragic occurrence" in the African nation on Friday underscored the need to provide security for U.N. peacekeeping missions.U.N. peacekeeping spokesman Kieran Dwyer said in New York that since Sept. 27, 2011, there have been six other incidents involving detention, searching, and shooting at UNMISS aircraft and threatening of passengers and crew.Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted a source at the Russian embassy in South Sudan as saying the Mi-8 helicopter owned by Nizhnevartovskavia was working under a U.N. contract when it was downed.Earlier this year, Russia said it would withdraw helicopters and personnel servicing the U.N. mission in South Sudan after voicing alarm at attacks on U.N. helicopters there.In September, South Sudanese soldiers killed at least 10 troops when they shot and sank one of their own military riverboats in a remote region after mistaking it for an enemy craft, the army said.Human rights groups often accuse the SPLA, a loose group of former guerillas, of human rights violations and abuses.

[ed notes:the spla are  israhelli zionist backed ,armed,trained,funded ... also see...
 South Sudan: Top UN Official Urges Govt to Reverse Expulsion of Human Rights http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2012/11/zionist-south-sudanese-ovt-expelled-un.htmlOfficer