The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Thursday two armed gunmen had attacked its compound in Yei town in southern Sudan, killing a local guard and leaving an international staff member and a local guard in critical condition.

"This is a shocking event, and our hearts and thoughts are with the family of the deceased and with critically ill staff members fighting for their lives," said the UN refugee agency's High Commissioner Antonio Guterres in a statement received here.

The UNHCR said the details of the attack which occurred on Wednesday night were still sketchy but the two wounded staff were in hospitals in Juba, provisional capital of south Sudan, and would be evacuated to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

"A UNHCR international staff member shot in the abdomen and a local guard shot in the leg are both in a critical condition in a Juba hospital, after being airlifted from Yei early Thursday morning. An emergency medical evacuation to Nairobi is planned as soon as possible," the UNHCR said.

According to the statement, six other UNHCR international staff were in the compound at the time of the attack but were not wounded and are safe.

"No local staff were present. One of the intruders to the compound was captured and is now in detention in Yei," the statement said.

"This attack just underscores the difficulties UNHCR faces in our operations in south Sudan where we are trying to create an environment for thousands of refugees in neighboring countries to be able to return home and stay home," Guterres said.

UNHCR set up a presence in Yei in 2004 to prepare for the return of south Sudanese refugees from the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda to the West Equatorial region.

A planned repatriation movement from the DRC to the Yei region due to start next week has been suspended while UNHCR reviews the situation.

There are 350,000 refugees from south Sudan in neighboring countries, including 13,300 in the DRC, and some 4 million people displaced within Sudan.

Source: Xinhua