South Sudan’s opposition faction has accused government troops of ethnically targeted killings of civilians, arrests and rapes in Katigiri and Lainya areas in Central Equatoria State.
Col. Kenyi Bennett, spokesman for the SPLA-IO in Central Equatoria, told Radio Tamazuj that the government forces had arrested 26 civilians at Katigiri area in the last three days.
“The government forces arrested citizens at Katigiri, the citizens were living in the bush due to fighting, and they arrested about 26 people three days ago” said Kenyi.
He further said about 16 among the detainees were killed and that the government troops took some of the detained citizens to their garrison outside the area. Bennett also accused the government forces of gang-raping a girl, besides the killing of a young man in Lainya County last week.
“Last week on Sunday, some citizens sought shelter inside the church in Lainya, so the government forces came and arrested local youth and then killed one person. They also ganged raped a girl, about 20 men ganged-raped the girl who was in the church” he explained.
For his part, Col. Santo Doming, deputy spokesman for the SPLA forces in Juba, denied claims that they committed atrocities in Lainya and Katigiri areas recently.
He claimed that what happened was a split within the armed opposition fighters. Santo pointed out that the detainees are believed to be members of the SPLA-IO rebels.
“What happened in Katigiri was caused by pockets of the opposition forces that remained around the area, so they differed, because some of them said we should join the government, while others refused” said Santo.
Radio Tamazuj couldn’t independently verify these claims.
Separately, residents in the Yei area have complained over the weekend of ongoing killing of civilians by Salva Kiir’s forces, pointing to recent unresolved murders using machetes and knives.
Bodies of civilians have been turning up on the morning after apparent nighttime abductions.
Meanwhile, some residents have reportedly asked for the removal of a certain military intelligence officer in Yei known as Kuil Garang because of his alleged ties to the murders. They say that a merciful person should be brought in to replace Kuil Garang following the killing of over six residents in several areas of town last week, with their throats slit by panga or knife.
An eyewitness in Yei said they saw one person who sustained panga wounds being treated in a medical unit in Yei town.
The witness said the dead included an old man, one woman and her child with two youths. The witness claimed that the killing of the civilians seems to be a retaliation for an attack on an SPLA convoy by alleged SPLA-IO supporters last week in Gimunu area along the Juba-Yei road.
In another incident, the body of a man with his hands and legs tied was found floating in Yei River on Friday, Radio Easter reported.
The state government spokesperson, Stephen Lodu Onesimo, says the deceased man is a brother of the husband of a woman found dead with her children last Tuesday. The deceased man was reportedly kidnapped together with the late woman and the child, killed and their bodies were thrown into the river, Lodu said. He explained that the body was found cut with panga.
He says the governor formed a committee to investigate the “unnecessary” killing in Yei.
The spokesperson confirmed that another family was attacked in Kamoi, killing three people and injuring others on August 24. He adds that the government is trying to discover their bodies. Lodu condemns the kidnappings and brutal killings in Yei, vowing that they will investigate the barbaric incidents.