South Sudanese army abducts civilians in Unity region: rebels

July 14, 2018 (NYAL, Panyijar County,) – An official from the main armed opposition group, SPLM-IO has accused the South Sudan army, SPLA, of abducting six civilians in southern Unity region, at Jaguar southwest of Leer areas on Friday evening.

Dhol Lingling Koryom, an opposition Secretary of Information and Communication for Lich State, told Sudan Tribune that the attack occurred in civilian held territories.

He accused the South Sudanese soldiers of violation of the permanent ceasefire signed in Khartoum on 27 June 2018, by the parties to the conflict.

However, Lingling, said targeting of civilians is unacceptable and called on the international community to condemn it in strongest term possible.

“It is unfortunate that the world engages in talks with the government of South Sudan while they keep civilians hostage,” he said.

The SPLM-IO local official further said the recent abduction of civilians indicates that the government is incapable to confront the armed opposition forces.

“ You cannot target the civilians simply because they are vulnerable and humiliate them. This constitutes a war crime,” he stressed.

The talks on the pending issues in the governance and security arrangements mediated by the Sudanese government, however, achieved some progress as the parties reached an agreement on the security issues and now debating on the power-sharing matters.

However, since the signing the rebels have several times claimed that the government attacked their positions in northern and southern parts of the troubled country.

(ST)