South Sudanese army accused of new attacks in Western Equatoria

December 17, 2015 (YAMBIO) – Opposition forces allied to the armed faction led by former vice president, Riek Machar, have accused South Sudanese army (SPLA) of attacking their position on Wednesday in Western Equatoria state.

In a statement signed by Brigadier General Henry Malesh Jioce Louis, chief operations officer in the area, he said the attack took place on 15 December.

“The fighting took place in between Maridi and Rasura, around 12:15PM on 15/12/2015 till 4:30PM, 16/12/2015, our forces were in defensive position and we crash[ed] them and destroyed 5 of their cars,” partly reads the statement, dated 17 December, extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday.

He also accused forces of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) stationed in Western Equatoria state of allegedly involving in the attack, fighting on the side of president Salva Kiir’s government.

He added that their forces in the area, known as Nerran Division of SPLA-IO, will exercise their right to fight back should the government forces and UPDF troops carry out further attacks on their locations.

Sudan Tribune could not independently verify the claimed incident by the opposition forces.

The group announced last month that it had joined the opposition faction under the leadership of former vice president and expressed commitment to the implementation of the peace agreement signed in August by the warring parties.

(ST)