Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Fighting erupted between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) in Motot Town of Jonglei State’s Uror County on Sunday, sparking fears that violence was escalating to the largely peaceful part of the state.
The county commissioner, James Gatkhor Gatluak, told Radio Tamazuj that the fighting started when a group of SSPDF forces stationed in Waat Town attacked a base hosting senior SPLA-IO officers on Sunday morning.
The official, however, said the fighting was immediately halted and that the rival factions were being engaged to de-escalate tension. He described the incident as an isolated one and that Uror was largely peaceful.
“Around 3 a.m. on Sunday, fighting erupted in Motot Town when a group of SSPDF soldiers attacked a SPLA-IO base. However, the fighting was stopped, and the county is now calm because the incident was an isolated one,” Gatkhor explained. “The background to this fighting is that some SSPDF soldiers in Waat want to relocate to Motot, but they were being prevented by the SPLA-IO forces.”
The county commissioner urged restraint.
“For now, we are engaging our community chiefs, and the tension has been de-escalated. This is not a major incident,” he said. “There are SPLA-IO forces in Pulchuol and Pathai, but they are not part of the violence, so the problem is only limited to Motot.”
SSPDF’s Maj. Gen. Wiyual Dak, who was among the forces who defected from SPLA-IO in 2023, said the fighting erupted after they were attacked.
“What happened was that our forces moving from Karam to Waat were attacked by the SPLA-IO forces at Motot around on Sunday at 3 a.m., resulting in two injuries from our side,” he stated. “Our forces were moving to join us in Waat when they were attacked. This is not the first time the SPLA-IO has provoked us, including disarming our soldiers and cutting the supply of essentials to us from Yuai.”
Gen. Dak said no one was killed from either side and that their forces had safely arrived at Waat.
SPLA-IO spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel was not immediately available for comment.
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