A gunman who seized control of a small humanitarian aircraft in South Sudan on Tuesday, December 2, was apprehended hours later after the pilot executed an unscheduled landing in the northern town of Wau, Police confirmed. The incident ended without injuries, and authorities have launched a full investigation.
The Cessna Grand Caravan, owned and operated by the evangelical aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, had departed Juba in the morning with medical supplies destined for Maiwut County in the far northeast.
Police said the suspect, identified as Yasir Mohammed Yusuf from the disputed Abyei Administrative Area, had slipped aboard before takeoff and concealed himself in the rear cabin. His motive for the attempted hijacking and his demand that the aircraft be flown to Chad — a country within the region but not sharing a border with South Sudan– remains unclear. After circling for several hours, the pilot informed the gunman that the aircraft required refueling, diverting safely to Wau where security forces detained the suspect.
Santino Udol Mayen, spokesperson for the Western Bahr el Ghazal police, said that the suspect wore a reflective vest bearing the logo of an air charter firm operating at Juba International Airport. However, the company’s managing director, Paul Antrobus, said no employee by that name existed on their roster. Samaritan’s Purse spokesperson Melissa Strickland expressed appreciation for the swift intervention by security agencies, which ensured a safe resolution. The incident comes shortly after a separate tragedy on November 25, when a plane chartered by the same aid group and operated by Nari Air crashed in Unity State, killing all three crew members.
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