Kiir’s office breaks silence on Mayom fighting but then refuses to acknowledge Gen. Buay’s presence

JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s office on Wednesday broke its silence on the recent fighting in Unity State’s Mayom County where rebel forces belonging to former army commander General Stephen Buay Rolnyang killed the commissioner.

Maj. Gen. Chuol Gatluak Manimeh was killed in an overnight operation on 19 July in Mayom town when an unknown number of Gen. Buay’s forces attacked Mayom town killing at least 11 people alongside the commissioner. 13 others were wounded including two women who were civilians.

Yesterday, fierce fighting broke out at Bieh Nyang Payam when a South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) convoy coming from Juba carrying military supplies to the stranded forces in Mayom came under attack from Gen. Buay’s forces.

This afternoon, clashes broke out at three remote villages after the army launched manhunts for Gen. Buay’s forces who are largely former members of the SSPDF.

In a statement this evening, the presidency said Kiir met a visiting Sudanese finance minister Gibril Ibrahim who came to the country to offer condolences from Sudan over the death of Mayom commissioner which the statement referred to as a “recent killing of citizens in Mayom County of Unity State.”

According to the statement, Kiir “appreciated the gesture from the Sudanese leadership to condole with the people of South Sudan and expressed his sadness and regrets over the loss of lives in senseless conflicts.”

Speaking to journalists following the meeting, Kiir’s press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny also refused to acknowledge Gen. Buay and referred to the rebel forces who attacked army convoy as ‘assailants’ who had killed the Mayom commissioner.

“The same assailants ambushed a convoy carrying food commodities to the area early this week, killing at least 15 people,” it added.