South Sudan army denies claims it attacked buses on Juba-Nimule road

November 22, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudanese armed (SPLA) has on Sunday vehemently denied residents reports that it carried out attacks on public vehicles on travelling on Juba-Nimule road in order to use it as a pretext to deploy its forces to the areas to protect Dinka members of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who grab lands from local communities in eastern Equatoria state.

Commercial vehicles including buses were attacked on Wednesday by unknown gunmen in which a number of people were killed and others wounded.

South Sudanese senior officials at the time blamed the attack on local forces loyal to the opposition leader, Riek Machar, but media officials in the opposition faction dismissed the accusations, saying their forces were not involved in the attack on commercial vehicles along the Juba-Nimule road.

David Aju Kanyara, who spoke on behalf of the concerned Ma’di’s intellectuals of Nimule area in Eastern Equatoria state however claimed that the attacks on Juba-Nimule road were carried out by the South Sudanese army in order to use it as a pretext to invade the area and enforce land grabbing by members of the Dinka community from which president Salva Kiir hails.

“The primary reason to execute the unprecedented attack was to justify that there is insecurity or insurgency in the area so that the Juba led government use it as a pretext to justify the attack on the bus and subsequent deployment of the forces to the area,” several media outlets quoted Kanyara as asserting.

He said the plan was to make sure there are forces deployed in the area to protect the Dinka IDPs who have been grabbing lands of Equatorians in the area.

The spokesman of the South Sudanese army, Colonel Philip Aguer, in reaction denied the accusations and told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that it was untrue government forces carried out the attack on Juba-Nimule road.

He confirmed that SPLA forces were deployed to the area, but explained that the operation was not an ethnically organized mission to justify deployment of predominantly ethnic Dinka disguised as members of the national army with the intention to involve in grabbing local lands for resettlement in the area.

“The SPLA is a national army with a constitutional mandate to protect lives and properties of the people of South Sudan. How then they can kill the very people they are supposed to protect,” asked Aguer during an interview on Sunday.

“That is a total propaganda,” he added.

He said the deployment of troops to the area was conducted in response to activities by the opposition forces in Eastern Equatoria state.

(ST)