South Sudan army triumphantly announced Tuesday the capture of Kuek area in northern Upper Nile near the Sudanese border, saying it has defeated the SPLA-IO rebels from the strategic area of Kuek after fierce battles on Monday.
First Lieutenant Benson Juma from the SPLA Division One confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that they have captured Kuek area which was being controlled by the SPLA-IO rebels allied to former first vice president Riek Machar.
He said yesterday.”Kuek area is being controlled by the SPLA, it was captured on Monday around 3:30 pm. The area of Kuek has been liberated completely, and the SPLA forces are moving ahead,” said Benson.
Benson claimed that that the government forces were able to push the SPLA-IO rebels to Maganis area near the border with Sudan’s White Nile State during heavy fighting, saying they also seized military equipment from the rebels.
Meanwhile, Santo Domic, Deputy Military Spokesman of the SPLA army, claimed that the situation in northern Upper Nile returned to normal after they defeated the SPLA-IO rebels in Kuek area in the clashes that lasted for two days.
“The situation in the northern part of Renk is stable after the clashes in Kuek, the rebels have been defeated, the situation now is under the control of SPLA,” said Santo.
Santo claimed that the clashes erupted after the armed opposition group attacked their positions in Kuek area.
For his part, Col. William Gatjiath Deng, Military Spokesman of the SPLA-IO rebels, confirmed that there were clashes in Kuek area. He accused the government troops of attacking their positions, while denying reports that the government forces are controlling Kuek area.
“It is not true, they have not controlled the area of kuek, we are still fighting inside Kuek, ” said Gatjiath.
File photo: SPLA soldiers in Upper Nile (Radio Tamazuj)