Two lawmakers shot dead after peace rally in South Sudan's northern town

JUBA, March 27 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including two members of parliament, were shot dead by gunmen on Tuesday night in the northern Nasir town of Upper Nile region in South Sudan.

Veronica Redento, member of the Committee on Public Service in the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), told Xinhua on Wednesday that the four died when the assailants opened fire on the boat they were traveling in along the river bank in Nasir after attending a peace mobilization rally on Tuesday.

"The two MPs were shot dead with two of their body guards last night, while returning from Nasir where they had gone to disseminate peace messages on the revitalized peace agreement," she said in Juba.

"They fell in an ambush. We do not know whether their killers are rebels or criminals," said Redento.

She disclosed that lawmaker Simon Deng's body has been recovered while another unidentified MP's body is missing. Deng headed the trade union in South Sudan prior to his death.

President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar signed the revitalized peace deal in September, 2018 to end more than five years of conflict in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Kiir early this year ordered lawmakers and local leaders to disseminate peace in their respective constituencies, despite some legislators expressing personal security concerns in some areas that still experience pockets of insecurity.