SPLA-IO Accused of Detaining Civilian Boats, Demanding $4,000 Along Sobat River ‎

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‎ Boat ferrying civilians  Nasir, Upper Nile State  ‎Authorities in Nasir County, Upper Nile State, have accused forces loyal to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army In Opposition (SPLA-IO) of detaining civilian riverboats and demanding ransom-like payments of up to $4,000 from traders and passengers along the Sobat River. ‎ ‎According to Nasir County Commissioner James Gatwech Joak, several boats traveling from Matar in Nasir County to Malakal were intercepted by SPLA-IO soldiers in Yakuach, an area in Nyirol County, Jonglei State. ‎ ‎“Our traders paid local taxes to SPLA-IO in Mandeng before setting off. But on reaching Yakuach, they were detained again and told to pay an additional four thousand U.S. dollars,” Commissioner Gatwech said. ‎ ‎He explained that the detained boat operators and traders were reportedly held for four days while armed men demanded more payments.  ‎ Some of the passengers were women, children, and patients traveling for medical treatment in Malaka...

SSPDF Refused To Increase More Soldiers In The Troubled Abyei Region

 


SSPDF spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai said he sees no oppoint of additional troops to be added in the troubled Abyei Region. 

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Last year the government dispatched a battalion from the unified forces to stabilize security in the area..

The remarks from Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang came after local officials asked the national government to deploy additional SSPDF troops to the area. 

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Recent conflicts have lead to lose of lives totalling to a number of 13 civilians killed by armed men in the Abyei areas. Ajak Deng said.

Ajak Deng is the spokeman of Abyei Administrative Area. Further said that a child and 3 women were also victims of the clashes. He called for a buffer zone to be established between Warrap and Abyei.

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Responding to Ajak Deng Miyan comments SSPDF spokesperson said it is the mandate of the SSPDF to protect all Civilians..

“That should not warrant a call for the deployment of the new force. The force that we have deployed there is enough,”-Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang. 

“If there are loopholes in terms of the initial deployment then it’s upon the commanding officer on the ground to redeploy force where there is a new threat,

He further said that “we have deployed a battalion force that we have drowned from the necessary unified forces and that is a very natural force.”-Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai.

The Abyei Area is an area of 10,546 km² or 4,072 sq mi on the border between South Sudan and the Sudan that has been accorded "special administrative status" by the 2004 Protocol on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War.



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