MALAKAL – Heavy shelling by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) is being reported in Nasir town, the capital of Nasir County, Upper Nile State. The attack, which began this morning, followed the shooting of a young schoolboy by government soldiers on Tuesday.
Lam Gatdet, a former executive director of Nasir County Commissioner, said a student traveling from Ethiopia to Ulang for holiday was ambushed by SSPDF personnel near Kaajiok Wechyaaradiw.
The unarmed boy was shot and left unconscious with serious injuries.
“A lonely student who left Ethiopia few days ago on his way going to Ulang for holiday, falls in trap of SSPDF personnel around Kaajiok Wechyaaradiw, Nasir. The soldiers stopped the unarmed boy and opened fire on him until he was left unconscious with serious gun wounds thinking they killed him,” Gatdet said.
“The victim regains consciousness after few hours, though he was between life and death with heavy injuries in the chest and eye. The boy helplessly tried all he could to push himself slowly and walked up to Dhuoreding Payam where he found the people who came to his rescue,” he added.
“At that moment the rescue team rushed him to MSF Hospital in Ulang town. The victim who is in critical condition is identified as Diew Jock Koway Deng from Ulag County,” he concluded.
A community leader who spoke to Sudans Post separately said that the soldiers went to collect firewood in the forest this morning, met the local youth, and then started shooting, resulting in one person killed from the youth’s side and three soldiers killed.
“This morning at around 8:00AM, the soldiers went to collect firewood. After they arrived in the forest, they met the youth and then the fighting started. They killed one person and wounded two others from the youth and three people were killed from their side,” he said.
Lam said the SSPDF then started shelling Nasir town following the short encounter, killing one person. This, he said, has resulted in the displacement of civilians and the burning of shops belonging to local traders.
SSPDF spokesman Major-General Lul Ruai Koang was not available for comment at the time of publication despite multiple calls.
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