Hundreds of South Sudan fighters transferred for medical care by U.N

Hundreds of troops loyal to South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar have been transferred within neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo for medical treatment by the U.N. peacekeeping mission there, according to an internal Congolese army report.

The report, dated Tuesday and seen by Reuters on Wednesday, is the first confirmation that so many armed men have crossed the border since Machar, South Sudan’s former vice-president, fled to Congo last month following fierce fighting in the capital, Juba.

Machar was picked up by the U.N. mission in Congo (MONUSCO) with a leg injury on Aug. 17 and evacuated to another part of the country before traveling for medical treatment to Sudan, where he has since remained.

A Monusco spokesman said at a news conference on Wednesday that the mission has evacuated some of Machar’s wounded fighters for humanitarian reasons but did not provide further details.

A U.N. spokesman in New York was not available for immediate comment.

The army report said that, beginning on Aug. 18, the mission organized three flights per day over three days from Dungu, some 75 km (45 miles) from the South Sudan border, to the eastern city of Goma, about 1,000 km to the south, for his fighters.

“About 500 fighters of (Riek Machar) have been evacuated and sent to Goma. Among them are the lightly, seriously and very seriously wounded who were treated by medical staff at the MONUSCO clinic in Dungu before evacuation to Goma,” it said.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende told news men that Congo authorized MONUSCO to provide medical care to some Machar fighters who have crossed the border as long as they disarmed, did not know how many.

He added that talks were ongoing with the South Sudanese government over what would happen to those fighters.