South Sudan army has denied knowledge of the arrest of its soldiers by Congolese authorities after allegedly fleeing a rebel attack across the border.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Congolese troops detained about 41 South Sudanese soldiers and one police officer on Saturday after they fled a rebel assault over the frontier.

Brig. Lul Ruai Koang, spokesman of the SPLA forces in Juba, told Radio Tamazuj yesterday that the Congolese government didn’t notify them officially about dozens of SPLA soldiers who crossed to its territory.

“The government of Congo and the Congolese army have not yet notified us officially that our soldiers crossed the border, so we should to be informed first so that we can confirmed what happened,” said Lul.      

UN Congo mission chief Maman Sidikou told the Security Council on Monday that concern was increasing about the spillover effects from the South Sudan conflict into Congo.

More than one million South Sudanese have fled their country since the conflict erupted in December 2013.

File photo: Lul Ruai