JUBA — The spokesperson for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) has accused the South Sudan Peoples’ Defense Forces (SSPDF) of conducting an air strike at their base in Wunaliet cantonment site, west of Juba.
In a statement, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel stated that the camp, located on the outskirts of Terekeka County, was reportedly shelled on Monday evening.
“This evening at about 1900 hours, SSPDF bombarded the SPLA-IO cantonment site randomly. This provocative action is a violation of the R-ARCSS,” Lam claimed.
SPLA-IO, a faction loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar, criticized the bombardment and urged for immediate international assistance to stop the SSPDF’s offensive attack.
“The SPLA-IO strongly condemns this SSPDF planned act and calls for urgent intervention from the international community to stop this violence that is being waged by the SSPDF.”
Meanwhile, the SSPDF spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, said he will issue a statement once all relevant information is received from operational base commanders at Nyamini and Wunliet and their surroundings.
“This brief message serves to inform all media agencies that the office of the SSPDF spokesperson will issue a statement as soon as all relevant information is received from operational and base commanders on the ground,” partly reads the statement.
Recent conflicts have centered on Nasir County in northeastern Upper Nile State.
In early March, a loose gang of armed youngsters known as the White Army, linked with Machar, took over a military post in Nasir.
The army responded with aerial strikes in nearby areas, including the use of bombs containing a highly flammable liquid that acts as an accelerant upon explosion, according to a statement Monday by Nicholas Haysom, head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
“These indiscriminate attacks on civilians are causing significant casualties and horrific injuries, especially burns,” Haysom said, adding that an estimated 63,000 people have been displaced.
Haysom said the country was “teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war.”
Last week, he replaced the Machar-allied governor of Upper Nile State with one of his own allies.
Machar’s party claims 22 political and military personnel have been imprisoned since February, including Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol and Deputy Army Chief General Gabriel Duop Lam.
