Kiir says slain Syrians were building his house in Warrap

JUBA, JANUARY 24^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Tuesday said the three Syrians who were killed last week by a member of South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) were building his house in a remote village in the country’s Warrap state.

On January 7, Private Yak Garang Yak opened fire on construction workers killing at least four people including three Syrians and one citizen, a young boy from Warrap state.

Speaking during the swearing in ceremony of SPLM Secretary-General Peter Lam Both in Juba on Tuesday, Kiir said the Syrian nationals were building his home when the SSPDF soldier opened fire on them.

“Recently during the Christmas Season, some people were working at my home in Akon because I decided to build a small house there. A soldier went there and asked to work with the company doing the construction,” Kiir revealed.

“However, in the evening during Christmas, this soldier went to his home, picked up his gun, and told his wife to look after their children in the event he is killed because he was going to kill a person that evening or the next morning.

“The next day in the morning, he went and broke the windows of a vehicle, put the people (Syrians) he was working with at gunpoint, sat them down at the grave of my mother, and shot them dead one by one,” the president added.

The president further said a 15-year-old boy who was running away out of fear was also shot dead by the killer.

“So, he killed four people, the three foreigners, and a local boy. He (the killer) then used the same car whose windows he had broken and drove away to Aweil where he was eventually arrested,” he said.

“He has now been brought to Juba and was arraigned in court yesterday (Monday) but the hearing was adjourned to today (Tuesday),” he added.