SSPDF forces move out of Pagak, Maiwut towns to attack SPLA-IO

JUBA – South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) has alleged that forces belonging to South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) have left Pagak and Maiwut towns to attack the group’s positions in Longechuk County.

This comes following days of clashes in which SPLA-IO said it had been attacked several times by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces. All SPLA-IO bases which were previously captured by the South Sudan army were retaken angering the army command in Bilpam.

In a statement this morning, SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel said SSPDF forces have moved out of their bases in Pagak and Maiwut towns to attack their bases in Longechuk County of Upper Nile state where intense fighting resulted in the killing of a senior SPLA-IO commander.

“The SSPDF moved its forces from Pagak and Maiwut this night to attack the SPLA-IO positions in Longechuk County in the morning hours,” Lam said, adding that he will post more information later in the day.