South Sudan army probes death of top military officer in Upper Nile state
April 5, 2015 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese army (SPLA) has dispatched a high-level investigating team to the volatile Upper Nile state where a top military officer was killed in an ambush attack by pro-government forces.
No-one has officially admitted responsibility for his death together with 12 other soldiers, but local sources said the general died in the hands of government-backed Dinka armed youth in the area.
Neither state officials nor the military leadership at the general headquarters in Juba has been able to make public statement to clarify what transpired, as well as the purpose of the deceased’s mission outside Malakal town where he fell into ambush.
Government forces in the area, including Major General Johnson Olony to whom the deceased falls under his command in the Shilluk militia forces allied to president Salva Kiir’s government, allegedly denied sanctioning the mission of the deceased.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Sunday from Malakal, the state minister of information, Peter Hoth Tuach, said the state administration has received a high level delegation of military figures under Major General Patrick Rapael on Saturday.
The delegation, he said, held a brief meeting with state governor Simon Kun Puoc before going to the village where the general had been buried to extend condolences on behalf of the general command to the family of the deceased and community members.
Neither state officials nor senior army officers participated in the burial of the fallen general, suggesting an unusual situation.
The purpose of the mission, he explained, was to establish the facts and the circumstances under which the general was killed; including the purpose of the mission and who of the general commanding officers in the area gave out the orders to him to leave the military base.
The military investigators, according to several military sources, will visit the crime scene, hold discussion with General Johnson Olony and other serving officers under his command, youth members from the ethnic Shilluk group, state governor and security officials.
The team will also travel to Paloich for similar meetings and discussions during which it would seek to gather information about the composition of the Dinka armed group and under whose command they fall, including those who specifically laid the ambush and for which purpose.
The investigation is expected to take up to seven days from the day the team was assembled and left Juba to Upper Nile. It would submit the report to chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, who in turn would submit to the minister of defence for onward submission to the president and the Security Council which will bring together different security organs.
Local sources said the general was ambushed over a dispute involving a contested border territory between the Dinka and Shilluk communities. The Dinka group reportedly thought the deceased general was on the side of his Shilluk ethnic group when he was seen moving in a convoy in that direction.
Recommendations of the committee, according to a top military source, will be deliberated at the council whose approval will then be the basis for decision to handle the matter.
VOLATILE SITUATION
Sources said the situation remains volatile in and around Malakal town as thousands of ethnic Dinka and Shilluk rival groups flee into the protected site of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in anticipation of retaliatory attacks.
“There was fighting today [Sunday] around Lul Bridge between Dinka and Shilluk youth groups. It seems the youth from Shilluk carried out the attack, but they were repulsed and the situation is relatively calm now,” said a Malakal resident.
The clashes, he said, occurred at 3pm between the armed youth groups with fears that the situation may further escalate if not arrested at the earliest.
(ST)