S. Sudan army chief orders shoot to kill in Western Equatoria state
August 2, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese army (SPLA) chief of general staff, General Paul Malong Awan, has given orders, instructing government soldiers in Western Equatoria state to shoot anyone resisting his directives.
But the top army chief in the young country has told the army to shoot the members of the youth group who will violate measures taken to calm the situation, an order many say may be misinterpreted to target innocent civilians and result to massacre.
“You must deploy to stop this and if they refuse, shoot them. It is not up to them. You must stop it,” General Awan told government soldiers predominantly members of the ethnic Dinka on a visit to Yambio town, scene of fighting, over the weekend.
It was not immediately clear what motivated him to issue such stern directives in a state widely seen as a beacon of democracy, peace and stability since governor Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro ascended to power and assumed control of the state affairs in 2010.
General Awan, who paid one day working visit to the area on Friday, did not specify the target of the shoot to kill orders, raising concerns from many government officials in the area as well as civil and human rights activists.
Multiple military sources at the general headquarters told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the order was prompted by the resumption of tribal fighting allegedly involving some elements of the government soldiers in the area in support of their relatives fighting local youth and police forces since last week. The actual cause of the dispute remains largely unclear.
Local officials and military sources have been providing conflicting information surrounding the cause.
State officials are keen to attribute the cause to a long standing community dispute on the illicit acquisition and use of land in addition to an alleged deliberate use of cows, apparently by members of cattle keeping community from neighbouring Warrap and Lakes, who are in the area searching for pasture and water in the area to destroy crops and farmlands.
But military sources claimed they were dealing with youth engaged in rebellion-like activities, allegedly targeting some elements of the government forces from certain ethnic background in the area.
Western Equatoria state information minister, Charles Barnaba Kisanga, told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that around 9 people have been killed since the dispute erupted last week when the two civilians were shot dead by a gunman sighted as coming from the direction of the local military in the area.
The two motor riders, he said, were natives of the state from different ethnic groups. One of whom was an Azande, the dominating community in the state and the other was a Moru, the second large community found east of the state.
No one has been apprehended by either state police, security organs, including members of the criminal investigation department or members of the army.
No any group in the area has also come out to claim any responsibility. However, state officials believe the cause of the shooting could be linked to the incident in which three of the government soldiers were killed in Brisi, a village outside Yambio town, capital of the state, allegedly by unknown gunmen.
Minister Kisanga explained during an exclusive interview that one police officer was again shot dead on Saturday and three others were found dead on Sunday morning at Hai Kuba residential area inside Yambio town, raising the number of those killed to 9 people.
(ST)