The commissioner of Wau County in Western Bahr el Ghazal State said at least 8 people were killed in clashes involving forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) and cattle keepers.

The SPLA-IO has however denied involvement.

According to Commissioner George Wajoki Tonga, fighting initially erupted on 5 April following a raid on a cattle camp by the SPLA-IO forces under the command of a Major General he only identified as Benson who he says leads the forces loyal to First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar in the Baggari area.

“Last week on 5 April, the forces under the command of Benson sent criminals who raided cattle in Ngo-Lingo Boma in Abusaka Payam,” he said. “In the northeast, we have five cattle camps and on the morning of 5 April, the cattle were taken to graze in the Territory of Wau County in an area which is deserted. However, the opposition forces (SPLA-IO) sent their troops there and they looted 500 head of cattle.”

Commissioner Wajoki said that after the raid, the SSPDF stationed in Natabo, west of Wau County were contacted but they failed to track down the looted cattle.

Last year, the inhabitants of Wau County rejected to join the Marial-Bai Agreement which granted herders the right to graze their cattle in farmlands during the dry season.

The commissioner however said the cattle keepers were abiding by the law prohibiting them from carrying weapons.

“This incident happened at 2 p.m. when cattle were returning to their camp and the SPLA-IO forces ambushed them. The cattle keepers were following the Marial-Bai Agreement that says they should not carry weapons when they enter Wau County,” he explained. “As you know, the owners of cattle depend on their animals and they went after their cattle and on reaching the place at night, they found their cattle surrounded by the SPLA-IO forces. In the process of recovering the cattle, they exchanged fire and killed six soldiers from the SPLA-IO and wounded one person called Joseph Suileman Daniel.”

According to Commissioner Wajoki, the herders managed to recover 420 out of 500 cattle that were raided. He said the SPLA-IO attacked the herders again on Thursday.

“Today (Thursday) at 8:30 a.m. 11, April, the same forces again attempted to raid cattle but they clashed with the cattle keepers, and two SPLA-IO soldiers were killed and two other soldiers of theirs,  Natale Suileman Joseph and Malou Malek, were wounded,” he said.

The commissioner said the civilians in the area of Tale have deserted their homes due to the fighting and called on pastoralists to leave the area for their safety.

When contacted, the SPLA-IO spokesperson in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, Col. Uku Manwee, dismissed what he referred to as baseless allegations by the commissioner. He said the SPLA-IO has no presence in the area where the raids and subsequent fighting occurred.

 “The commissioner has accused us of being responsible for looting cattle in the areas of Ngo-Lingo and Tale but we do not have a military barracks there. Our nearest barracks is Bringi in Wau County,” he stated. “We are unhappy with this allegation and urge the commissioner to form a committee to investigate the matter. The committee should move to the scene and find out if the six people who were killed are from the SPLA-IO or the cattle keepers.”

The SPLA-IO spokesperson said the Wau County commissioner regularly levels false accusations against their forces.

“If the commissioner does not form an investigation committee, it will be his case against the SPLA-IO because he always speaks against us without knowing what he is talking about,” Col. Manwee added.

He said those who looted the cattle might be criminals but not the SPLA-IO soldiers in Wau County.