Authorities in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State said they are planning to carry out investigations into Monday’s attack on Tonga village in Panyikang County.
Tonga lies on the west bank of the Nile.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, State Advisor for Peace and Reconciliation Al-Tayeb Okuoch Ajak said calm had returned to Tonga village after an attack launched by what he called an unknown armed group.
According to the peace advisor, the state government is in the process of forming a fact-finding committee into the attack on Tonga village after Panyikang County Commissioner directly accused SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang forces of involvement in the deadly attack.
“The commissioner of Panyikang County is currently in Fangak. He fled to Fangak after the clashes erupted there,” Ajak said.
The local official pointed out that many families fled the area due to the recent attack. He noted that he does not know the whereabouts of many families who fled the clashes due to a lack of communication networks in the area.
Background
On Monday, Panyikang County Commissioner Mustafa Gai told Radio Tamazuj that violent clashes erupted between Machar’s SPLA-IO and SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction led by General Johnson Olony Sunday night.
Gai, a member of the National Democratic Movement (NDM), said: “The attack resulted in the killing of a soldier from Machar’s forces and another soldier from Olony’s forces and the wounding of a civilian.”
The commissioner accused the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction of launching the attack on Tonga village.
For its part, the press office of the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang leader Gen. Johnson Olony denied reports that their forces launched an attack on the Tonga area on Sunday, describing the reports as mere propaganda.