The commissioner of Longechuk County in Upper Nile State has said tension remains high in the county headquarters, Mathiang town, following fighting between elements of the SSPDF and SPLA-IO there over the weekend.
At least three people were killed and several others injured during the clashes which erupted on Saturday. The trigger is the skirmishes remain unclear.
Commissioner Dak Tut Dey told Radio Tamazuj Tuesday that tensions are high over fears of an imminent attack on the town.
“On Saturday at 5 pm, some forces under the county SPLM chairperson and a General who defected from SPLA-IO attacked Mathiang. On the SPLA-IO side, four people, including a woman, a boy, and two soldiers, were killed, while 3 people were killed on the attackers’ side,” he explained.”Now, the situation is fairly calm because the attackers returned to Maiwut but the tension is still high. Mobilization is ongoing in Maiwut to attack Mathiang.”
Commissioner Tut called on the peace monitoring mechanism to expeditiously dispatch a team to Longechuk to investigate the incident.
Efforts to reach Upper Nile State Information Minister Luk Saadallah Deng and SPLA-IO Spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel were futile.