Four South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) officers were killed in clashes with armed civilians in Nasir town, Upper Nile state, according to SSPDF spokesperson Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang. A county commissioner reported 10 civilian injuries as a result of the fighting.
The clashes began Friday afternoon and reportedly resumed Saturday morning.
Maj. Gen. Lul told Radio Tamazuj Saturday afternoon that the fighting broke out after an attack near the SSPDF barracks.
“Clashes have been recurring in Nasir because the civilians there do not respect us as the national army,” he said. “They, including the county commissioner, are loyal to the SPLM-IO and deny us freedom of movement.”
He added: “What happened yesterday was that three of our servicemen, commanded by a captain, were attacked while trying to collect firewood.”
“During those clashes, we lost a captain and a soldier. This morning, at 5 a.m., they attacked us again. In those clashes, we lost two more,” he continued.
Gen. Lul accused the SPLM-IO, led by First Vice President Riek Machar, of instigating the ongoing incidents in Nasir County and called for mutual respect between the parties.
Nasir County Commissioner Gatluak Lew Thiep described the situation as precarious.
“The fighting started Friday at 2 p.m. and continued until 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., we were attacked again by the SSPDF, resulting in the injury of 10 civilians, including two women and a UNMISS peacekeeper,” the commissioner said. “This morning at 5 a.m., the SSPDF resumed shelling, as they had done at 11 p.m. the previous night.”
He urged the SSPDF leadership to respect civilians and expressed concern that the situation remains unpredictable.
Ter Manyang, a civil society activist and executive director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), called for restraint.
“These problems are recurring in Nasir due to a lack of political will to implement the security arrangements in Chapter II of the R-ARCSS [2018 Revitalized Agreement],” he said. “We urge calm not only in Nasir but also in Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal states. We also call on the ceasefire monitors to investigate these incidents.”