3 dead, 2 wounded as SSPDF clashes with local youth group in Pochalla County

BOR, SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – Authorities in the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) said on Monday that three people were killed and two others were wounded after fighting broke out in Pochalla County between the army and a local youth group identifying itself as a rebel.

Speaking to Sudan Post this afternoon, GPAA information minister Abraham Kalang Jiji said the fighting erupted when the unidentified armed youth group attacked the SSPDF base in Pochalla County.

He said that all three people killed were from the side of the youth, while two SSPDF soldiers were wounded.

“Yesterday there was a conflict that happened in Pochalla county with a group of youth calling themselves rebels attacking SSPDF barrack … and the war started until killing of three from the attackers and two from SSPDF soldiers were injured,” Kalang said.

The senior local government official said that fighting continued through Monday morning and that casualties from the Monday fighting were yet to be confirmed, as tensions remained high.

“Until the conflict of today, the updates have not yet been received, but maybe we will receive them later on for casualties, what has happened today and the injured,” Kalang added.

The official alleged that the armed youth were part of a rebel group fighting the government of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area, in particular, and the national government of South Sudan in general.

“They are a rebellion because the group that attacked the SSPDF soldiers is the same group that killed the commissioner and national security officer in charge and two of national security personnel two months ago,” he said.

He further said the conflict has affected the locals, as it has resulted in a mass exodus from Pochalla County.

He called on the national government to intervene to calm the tension in the area.

In June this year, the Pochalla County commissioner was killed by unidentified gunmen along with his bodyguard as well as a senior National Security Service (NSS) officer.

No culprit has been brought to justice over the killing.