At least 21 people including women and children were killed and 20 others injured in an ambush on the Juba-Yei road on Saturday, a spokesperson for the SPLA army said.
Brig. Lul Ruai Koang, spokesman of the SPLA forces in Juba, told Radio Tamazuj today that several commercial vehicles carrying passengers along the Yei-Juba road came under attacks by Riek Machar’s forces at Ganyi area on Saturday.”
“There were vehicles carrying citizens who were going to Juba, so they were ambushed by the opposition at an area called Ganyi, they killed 21 people, and about 20 others were wounded,” said Lul.
He further said the accident resulted in the killing of a man, 15 children, and five women and that about 20 others sustained injuries. Lul added that the attackers also burned one commercial vehicle.
Lul Ruai called on the East African regional bloc IGAD, Troika and friends of South Sudan to classify Machar’s forces as a terrorist group.
“As I speak now, we are heading to the area to bury those people, everyday we say that Riek Machar does not have any program, he wants to kill citizens from time to time,” he said.
“We always tell the international community that there will not be peace because of Riek Machar, so we call upon IGAD,Troika, and friends of South Sudan to declare Riek Machar’s forces as terrorists,”he added.
Radio Tamazuj couldn’t reach SPLA-IO officials to comment on the matter.