SPLA-IO, Sudanese military contains fighting between S. Sudan refugees and locals at Magenis

JUBA – South Sudan’s SPLA-IO military and the Sudanese army have contained a fighting that erupted at Magenis, a border area between Sudan and South Sudan, between South Sudanese refugees and local Sudanese residents that has killed at least one Sudanese citizen, according to the SPLA-IO spokesman William Gatjiath Deng.

The fighting began on Sunday at a water point between one South Sudanese refugee and a Sudanese citizen leading to the killing of the Sudanese citizen, prompting the interference of the Sudanese authorities and the SPLA-IO, according to General Gatjiath.

“The Office of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition SPLA (IO), would like to sensitize the public about the incident which took place at Jabel Magenis, which lies at the borderline of South Sudan and Sudan, this morning between the two citizens has been officially controlled and it happened that, the host communities have been sharing the water points or boreholes for years and used to supplies water to the inhabitants of the area,” the statement said.

“The two citizens had quarreled over water points and later led to the complete demise of one person at the side of Sudan and several injured in both sides in exchange of sticks and stones but the Sudanese soldiers nearby, had fired bullets purposely to deter the situation after the intensification of the then incident,” he added in the statement.

He further said that “the joint military committee of the both armies are being officially mandated to see the issue urgently and indeed, the issue has been settled and the people in the area have come back to normal.”

“The SPLM/A (IO) leadership has appreciated the initiative taken by the Sudan government that stand firm to disregard the incident.

“To inform those who are fabricating and negatively translated the incident are not officially received their news from the right sources.”