W. Equatoria suspends observing martyrs’ day after gunman shot dead civilians

July 30, 2015 (JUBA) – Authorities in Western Equatoria state in South Sudan have announced a decision suspending preparations marking annual commemoration of martyrs’ day after a gunman shot dead at least two civilians on Wednesday in the state capital, Yambio, causing panic among the local population.

It was not clear what prompted the tragic shooting although authorities and military sources gave conflicting accounts of the events preceding the incident, with state officials claiming it could be retaliation for an attack in which three government soldiers were killed in Birisi, an area outside the state capital, Yambio. No one had claimed any responsibility.

“There is an emerging worrying security situation in the area. There are elements within the SPLA who are causing insecurity in the state. Instead of protecting the citizens, they have opted to terrorizing them,” a source privy to what transpired told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

“Some days ago community in Birisi Boma of Yambio county have been in problem with elements of the SPLA unit in the area after two youth went out of their houses for hunting. They were carrying no guns. They had only arrows and bows. This became an issue and some elements within the SPLA capitalized on their use of weapons and because of selfishness they claimed the youth were opening a training camp, which is not correct,” he said.

He criticized the South Sudanese army for the harassment, saying two people could not open a military training camp. The official criticized the behaviour of elements in the army, adding they were doing exactly what they did in Mundri town, when the SPLA forces carried out indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

The youth, according to several state sources, went out of their homes because one of them had an affair with someone’s wife and another was escaping a commitment to pay money he owed someone in the area.

“From what I know, it was an escape of local arrest because it was about two people. One was accompanying a friend who wanted to hid because he slept with someone’s wife and the other had money to be paid to someone, but the SPLA elements in the area acted on wrong information because the commanding officer also wanted to cover his own wrong doing in the area,” he added.

However, a military source claimed three of his colleagues in the area were gunned down by rebel affiliated elements and failed to confirm whether the incident in Yambio was a retaliatory attack.

He claimed that there was an already underground rebellion activity in the state as reported by the general command and the office of the president, but there has never been an official position accepting and declaring that there is a rebellion in the area.

The military source further claimed that the activities in which they (local youth) were engaged in were clear indications that there are rebel activities backed by senior officials in the government.

(ST)