SPLA-IO accused of killing civilians in Ayod

June 22, 2016 (BOR) – A 14-year-old girl was reportedly killed in Ayod, capital city of a newly established Fangak state, by forces loyal to one of the SPLA-IO generals, identified as Kernyang.

The girl was allegedly killed in an attack launched by opposition forces who also injured three other civilians and unconfirmed number of others kept in hostages this week, according to James Kang Lony, Fangak state minister of information.

Lony condemned the killing of civilians by opposition forces, which he described as a violation of the August 2015 peace agreement.

“We are Condemning the killing of three people, around town, by elements belonging to SPLM-IO. The IO were deployed around the state capital of Ayod to carry out subversive activities just to create hostile atmosphere to [destabilize] the security situation on the ground,” Lony said in a statement he issued to Sudan Tribune on phone from Juba.

“We as the state government, we condemned this, and we said it is not good for the IO to do such activities to kill and derail the lives of our beloved citizens,” he continued.

He urged the SPLM-IO to respect the ceasefire and provisions signed for in the compromised peace agreement, further explaining that killing and deployment of IO forces around Ayod was made by one of the top generals, identified as Kernyang, who was once under the area commander, James Mawich.

“Kernyang is killing people day by day. This is a total violation of the peace agreement that was signed by the government and SPLM-IO. He should be punished by the authority concerned and by the international community and the joint monitoring and evaluation commission (JMEC).”

Last week, the commissioner of Ayod county told Sudan Tribune about how much the civilians were suffering in the county, accusing Kernyang of preventing, robbing and even killing people who attempted to come to town (controlled by the government forces) to sell goats and heads of cattle.

(ST)