SPLA-IO, SSPDF-allied militia group clash in eastern South Sudan
Major General James Ochan Puot showing around the CTSAMMV team in former opposition-held Maiwut (Photo:CTSAMV
April 11, 2020 (SSNN) — South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLA-IO, led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar yesterday clashed with army-allied militia group led by General Ochan Puot in eastern part of the country, the Nyamilepedia has learned.
One resident said from Jiokow that fighting started after soldiers belonging to renegade General Ochan Puot attacked an SPLA-IO base near Jiokow on Friday but subsided on Friday morning.
“There was fighting in the area near Jiokow yesterday,” the resident said on condition of anonymity on Friday. “The fighting started after the soldiers from Ochan Puot attacked SPLA-IO but the fact is that guns have become silent today.”
Members of the SPLA-IO and the militia group were not reachable by the time of writing this story but different sources in Juba said President Salva Kiir had spoke to Ochan Puot to cease “activities which derail the current atmosphere of peace.”
General Ochan is a former SPLA-IO general who broke rank with the main armed opposition group at a time when the South Sudan parties to the revitalized peace agreement were imolenting the peace deal last year.
He has accused the Machar-led movement of targeting civilians in the community. He has since declared his allegiance to South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) led by Kiir.
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