A commercial bus that set out from Juba early morning was ambushed by a group of gunmen along the Nimule-Juba road which leads to Uganda, killing five people and leaving many others injured.

According to source from Nimule, the incident happened this morning before reaching Moli Tokuro, but he could not confirm the exact number of people killed and injured. He said some of the injured were rushed to Nimule hospital for treatment.

SPLA Spokesman Colonel Philip Aguer confirmed the incident but said the situationis  under control after dispatching an SPLA force to the area. He described the incident as an act of “banditry,” vowing that the SPLA would take measures to found where the perpetrators are based.

Aguer said many of the passengers fled into the bush after the bus came under fire. They started returning upon the arrival of the army at the scene.  

The spokesman cited preliminary reports showing at least five people died, including two Somali nationals, two Ugandans and one South Sudanese. The victims, he said, were traveling to Uganda using Friendship Coach Bus when it came under attack on Thursday morning.

Shooting on Torit-Juba road

Separately, a local source told Radio Tamazuj of an incident in which three suspected car thieves were shot dead by SPLA Military Intelligence last Friday after they allegedly hijacked a vehicle coming from Torit to Juba.

The source said that the armed men were driving a stolen vehicle when SPLA soldiers stopped then at a checkpoint at the junction of Torit – Nimule road. Two suspected armed robbers were killed on the spot while the other was found dead in the bush after trying to escape. At least three guns were recovered from them.