June 4, 2021 (JUBA) -The South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) on Friday strongly condemned the recent murder of a church priest and civilians in the Central Equatoria State.

"SSOMA is totally perturbed and in great shock with the ongoing inhuman and heinous arrests and killings of church leaders and civilian across South Sudan by the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF)," reads a statement extended to The Sudan Tribune.

The National Salvation Front (NAS) on Thursday accused the South Sudanese government army SSDF of killing civilians including a priest and Church members in Gumbiri, Loka archdiocese of Lainya County of Central Equatoria State.

The opposition alliance further said that the army soldiers stormed the church during Sunday service and arrested Priest Rev. Cosmas Kwaje Matayo and other church members including a ten (10) years boy before killing them, according to the statement.

The alliance further pointed an accusing finger at the government and described that attack as "a crime against humanity that deserved accountability (...)".

"SSOMA urges and call upon the International Criminal Court, the African Union, the United Nations, the International Community and the regional bodies to take note on these heinous and an inhuman crime against humanity and to hold the government of South Sudan to account," stressed the statement.

(ST)