Malong’s group debunks claims it looted commercial supplies in Western Bahr el Ghazal

JUBA, JANUARY 22^ND 2023 (SUDANS POST) – The holdout opposition South Sudan United Front (SSUF/A) led by former army chief General Paul Malong Awan Anei has denied claims by a senior SSPDF general that it looted commercial supplies along the road in Western Bahr el Ghazal state.

In a statement on Saturday, General Abraham Gum Makuach, the SSPDF infantry division 5 commander said that commercial trucks carrying at least 45 ton of rice were looted by forces loyal to General Paul Malong on a highway in Raja County of Western Bahr el Ghazal state.

“A loaded commercial truck has been this afternoon robbed by armed men in uniform between Timsa and Raja who later made it away with about 45 tons of rice leaving driver nursing wound after he was hardly slapped; and robbers are believed to be elements loyal to Gen. Paul Malong Awan Anei,” he said yesterday.

But in a statement, the SSUF/A dismissed the claim as propaganda and said that their forces do not have presence in Raja where the alleged looting is said to have taken place and added that their forces have never been involved in looting since its inception in 2018.

“Our attention has been distracted by the wild propaganda labelled against our forces of having involved in the looting of commercial truck as alleged by an SSPDF senior commander in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State,” the SSUF/A statement signed by its military spokesman Col. Philip Deng Kuol reads in part.

“Prior to these SSPDF’s negative accusations, we would like to vividly take this position to assure the public and peace facilitators that, SSUF/A under Gen. Paul Malong Awan has no presences or any forces contented in an aforementioned area.

“Furthermore, since an inception of SSUF/A in 2018, our invincible forces have never involved in any plundering of civilian properties; because SSUF/A mighty movement has principles guiding it despites our projected goal is to liberate all South Sudanese citizens out of this jeopardy situation, but not to rob them like what a hungry SSPDF always commit as the true prime suspects,” it added.

The statement extended to Sudans Post further urged “the general public and peace guarantors to treat that state-sponsored anti-peace statement of Gen. Abraham Gum as unfounded and baseless assertions.”