SPLA-IO commander kidnapped in Juba by unknown gunmen

JUBA – A senior commander of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has been kidnapped by a group of unknown armed men in the South Sudan’s capital Juba, several opposition officers who are involved in the search for the whereabouts of the opposition commander said.

Brigadier Luka Ghar Goal Riak was reportedly kidnapped while visiting relatives at the former United Nations Mission in South Sudan Protection of Civil Sites in Juba on Wednesday when unidentified men in an unnumbered pickup vehicle came to arrest catch him before throwing him in the car.

“He was visiting his relatives at the UN site in Juba when four people in a car armed to the teeth appeared and caught him and they took him to the car. The people who arrested him are still not known, but they appear to be from a higher security body in the country,” one source said.

“Currently, we are searching for him and we are visiting police stations but we can’t find him. We have also informed security agencies of the incident, but none of them appears to know anything of the incident and of Luka’s whereabouts. So, we are informing more people that if they hear or see him they should inform us,” the source added.