Mountains area in ikwoto county eastern equatoria State. | Photo: Visit South Sudan.

A highway attack on humanitarian convoy left three aid workers dead in Ikwoto County of Eastern Equatoria State on Tuesday, a state lawmaker representing the area said.

Alphonse Muras Chacha said the humanitarian workers were returning from a fieldwork in one of the payams, when unknown assailants opened fire on their convoy of two vehicles.

The armed attack occurred at Hafialari village at 7 o’clock in the morning. The culprits have not been identified.

“They were two vehicles so they shot at the first vehicle and killed one person and caught the women but later released them. The second vehicle stopped and the people inside ran away but the gunmen went to the car and searched for the people,” Muras.

The victims were allegedly working for Caritas – Switzerland organization in the state.

“They found a man called Loro who is a program manager of Kartas in Ikwotos and killed him. They also killed another person who was hiding near him, so there were three people who were killed.” he added.

The lawmaker, said the gunmen also detained several women onboard the convoy, before freeing them, hours later.

According to him, three teachers were also killed in the area, last week.

Security situation along the highways of Eastern Equatoria State continues to deteriorate after Tuesday’s ambush along Juba-Nimule road that left 7 people dead and dozens of others missing.