SPLA-IO commander says 9 killed in clash with local youth in Unity State

BENTIU – The commander of sector two of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), Lt. Gen. Peter Ruot Chol, confirmed that the death toll from recent clashes between the group and local armed youth in southern Unity State has risen to nine, including two soldiers.

He stated that the situation is now under control.

The fighting erupted on Monday morning when a force, under the command of Panyijiar County Commissioner Gabriel Majok Bol, attempted to recover cattle allegedly stolen by local youth from neighboring Lakes State.

Local authorities and the youth had initially reported to Sudans Post that two people were killed in the confrontation, one from each side.

In an interview with Sudans Post this morning, Gen. Ruot described the clashes as unfortunate, attributing the violence to a misunderstanding between the local youth and a law enforcement force sent to recover the stolen cattle.

He explained that the incident stemmed from an attempt to avoid escalating insecurity along the border between the two states.

According to Gen. Ruot, the incident began when soldiers approached the cattle camp and asked an alleged criminal to accompany them to the County headquarters for questioning about the stolen cattle. However, the suspect opened fire, injuring one soldier in the leg, which prompted other soldiers to return fire, triggering further violence.

“Three days earlier, there were youth who went and stole cattle from Lakes State. The [local] government, because they have an agreement with the authorities in Lakes State to collect such stolen cattle and return them to their owners, went to implement the agreement by collecting the cattle and for the person who reportedly owns 46 cattle from Rumbek to be tried and determine if he stole them or not,” he said.

“But when the soldiers arrived and he was asked to come with them to where the court was based in Gany, the civilian refused and started hostilities by shooting the soldier in his leg. This angered the other soldiers who believed they were in danger, and this resulted in the exchange of fire and the start of the fighting,” he added.

Gen. Ruot said the armed civilian was killed on the spot, but the soldiers later acted indiscriminately, preventing civilians from fleeing the camp as they believed they were at risk.

This led to the escalation of the violence. He confirmed that nine people were killed, including two soldiers—one who died immediately and the other who succumbed to his injuries at a local primary health center.

“The man who started the shooting was killed and also one soldier was killed. Both died on the spot. But later on, the death toll rose to nine people. Two of them were soldiers—one was killed on the spot while the other died after being taken to a local health center,” he added.