An eyewitness and survivor of the recent attack in Raja County in which 13 people were killed including five journalists says that the attackers were wearing a mix of different uniforms and that he believes them to be Lord’s Resistance Army fighters.
Justin Abo, secretary to the new commissioner of Raja County, told Radio Tamazuj exclusively that he was traveling in the two-car convoy that came under attack at Kubri Modabal after returning from Sopo area to Raja town on 25 January.
“I went to Sopo village along with the commissioner to inspect health conditions of fishermen who were attacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) at Dangush village,” he said.
“When we were in Sopo hospital, the commissioner talked by Thuraya to the health authorities in Raja town to send an ambulance so that the wounded citizens are rescued,” he added.
The commissioner’s convoy was ambushed while returning from this visit. The survivor told of how he observed movements of the attackers at the bridge before the attack took place.
Justin said their convoy of two cars came under heavy fire from two sides at a bridge known locally as Kubri Modabal, 4 miles from Sopo. “The first car was carrying journalists and security guards and the second car was carrying the commissioner and I was together with the commissioner.”
“So the fire was very intensive and the shooting was terrible on us,” he recalled.
According the commissioner’s secretary, some attackers were in SPLA uniform and others were in Ugandan army uniform, while others were in Sudanese army uniform.
“Before the ambush, before they opened fire, I saw people wearing khaki [i.e., a uniform] of our army which is the army of South Sudan, and there were people wearing khaki of the Ugandan army, and there were people wearing khaki of the Sudanese army,” he said.
Asked how he was able to recognize these uniforms, the survivor said, “They were close, only about 10 meters from the road on both sides, right and left, and when they attacked the vehicle they were coming to ambush, they were coming toward the car and shooting at it.”
“They were carrying PKM and Kalishnikovs,” he said.
He said that they advised their driver not to stop after the first car carrying journalists and bodyguards halted under heavy fire. Their own car made it out of the ambush but came to a halt soon afterwards.
“Our car stopped after 15 minutes because it was affected by the bullets, so we walked on foot for an hour until we saw the ambulance that we had ordered to rescue the wounded citizens in Sapo area. The commissioner and other wounded people were taken to an area called Mangayat by the ambulance,” he said.
SPLA forces from Mangayat village were dispatched to the area where the ambush occurred. They found all the people who were in that car killed and burned, except for two survivors outside the vehicle.
“They found two survivors only, who are Raja police commissioner and an assistant to the driver,” he indicated.
He said 13 people were killed. He added that among the dead were the five journalists, a lieutenant in the SPLA and the son of the driver’s assistant who was killed and burned. There were not four women killed as earlier reported but three — two female journalists and one other woman who had been hitching a ride to Raja, he clarified.
“All the victims were found killed and chopped, even the child was chopped in the head and then burned,” he added.
He said SPLA have been dispatched to pursue the attackers, whom he said have been bothering people in the area. Asked what local people have been saying about the attackers the county official said, “The citizens are saying these are the ‘Lord’s Army.’ Because there are some of them who speak Arabic and others who don’t speak Arabic but only English.”
“And the heinous way they used to kill people, that is the way of the LRA. They kill people by cutting… they cut them and burned them… So that is not the way of Southerners or Sudanese, that is the way that the LRA kill people.”
Related:
Four government journalists killed in ambush in South Sudan
Attacks on fishermen in remote part of Raja County