JUBA — Authorities in Morobo County of South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State have claimed that the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) are pursuing forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) following last week’s clashes, a county official said on Wednesday.
The clashes between SSPDF and SPLA-IO have displaced more than 17,000 people in Morobo County.
The fighting, which erupted last week, has primarily uprooted women, children, and the elderly from their homes, according to the Morobo Development Association (MDA).
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday after a meeting with the state Governor Augustino Jadalla Wani, Charles Data Bullen, Morobo County Commissioner, said the SSPDF are still pursuing the SPLA-IO forces.
“Panyume is still under observation. The SSPDF are pursuing the enemy and all the former forces of the IO; they have left their original places,” Data said.
“But they have entered into other corners, where the SSPDF are still pursuing them. Like in Nyori, last time on Sunday, when I left there, just within 30 meters from all the barracks, they attacked us,” recalled the commissioner.
Data disclosed that the general security situation in Morobo County is normal and calm.
“So we exchanged some bullets, and then they left. So there is a need for the SSPDF to pursue everywhere so that the security becomes normal as before. But currently there is a relevant peace compared to the old times when the IO were the ones controlling Panyume.”
Central Equatoria Governor Augustino Jadalla on Wednesday visited Morobo County near South Sudan’s border with Uganda and DR Congo.
The visit came following last week’s fighting between SSPDF and SPLA-IO forces, which displaced thousands of civilians from their homes.
Jacob Aligo Lo-Lado, State Acting Minister of Information and Communication, said the governor would visit the displaced persons to see their conditions.
“He (the governor) will be moving around to inspect the areas where the displaced have been sheltered temporarily and to also listen to them, maybe to assess the situation for humanitarian intervention,” said Aligo.
