SPLA-IO demands release of officers captured by SSPDF during Unity State clash

JUBA – The Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, has urged the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) to release two of its officers captured during Monday’s fighting in northern Unity State.

The clash erupted after an SSPDF attack on an SPLA-IO base near the Sudanese border. Seven soldiers were killed, including four from the SSPDF and three from the SPLA-IO.

Nine others, including one SPLA-IO soldier and eight SSPDF soldiers (among them two senior officers: the Division Four intelligence chief and the Unity State wildlife director), were wounded in what the state government claims was an ambush on the governor.

The SPLA-IO told Sudans Post on Tuesday that two of its servicemen, signal, and military intelligence officers, were captured by the SSPDF after the attack on their Nyuelnyuel base.

Major Kerbino Yai Pazale, spokesman for SPLA-IO Sector Two, demanded the captured officers’ immediate release.

He warned the SSPDF of being held responsible for any harm that befalls them.

“As I informed you yesterday, the SSPDF captured two of our officers, and we demand their immediate release by the SSPDF leadership,” Major Pazale said. “The SSPDF will be held accountable for any harm that comes to them.”

The SSPDF has yet to confirm capturing SPLA-IO soldiers. Calls to SSPDF spokesperson Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang in Juba went unanswered at the time of publication.