At least four civilians were shot dead and three others critically injured in an attack on a commercial vehicle at Mile 55 area in Lainya County of Yei River state on Sunday, a local official said.
Lainya County commissioner Eresto Luate told Radio Tamazuj that the victims were passengers traveling in a Lorry to Juba city.
Eresto further said the passengers killed included a pregnant woman, two and the driver who was a Ugandan national. The county official accused the SPLA-IO rebels of involvement in the attack.
He pointed out that the incident caused fear and panic. However, he said SPLA troops were dispatched pursue the attackers, claiming that the security situation returned to normal.
“At around midday on Sunday, there was a lorry coming from Yei heading to Juba, it was attacked and shot at Mile 55 behind Lainya County,” he said.
Separately, the commissioner claimed that some SPLA-IO forces clashed with government troops in Loka area along the Lainya-Yei road on Sunday but no causalities were reported.