South Sudan opposition forces claim capture of border areas

JUBA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Sudan People's Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, on Saturday claimed to have recaptured several towns near the borders with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Lam Paul Gabriel, spokesperson for the SPLA-IO, said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, that they took Kendila, Panyume, Mongoya and Lujulo in Morobo County in Central Equatoria State on Thursday after defeating a combined force of the South Sudan People's Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the National Security Services.

"About 10 enemy combatants were killed and 30 others wounded, while the SPLA-IO lost six soldiers and eight others sustained gunshot injuries," Gabriel said.

Meanwhile, Uganda's West Nile police spokesperson Collins Asea accused SPLA-IO soldiers of looting property in the Busia border area in Koboko District following the clashes in Morobo County, South Sudan, according to local media.

"An unidentified group of armed individuals, suspected to be SPLA-IO from South Sudan, stormed Busia trading center, fired bullets into the air to scare civilians, and looted some property," Asea was quoted as saying.

He disclosed that Ugandan police and other sister security forces were pursuing the armed group from South Sudan.

However, Gabriel denied that the fighting reached the Ugandan border area of Busia.

Tensions between the South Sudan opposition and the ruling party escalated following a March 4 attack by the White Army, which is allied with the SPLA-IO. The attack overran a military base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State.

On March 7, the White Army killed 27 SSPDF soldiers and a general who were being evacuated by the United Nations in Nasir. The incident led to the arrest of several high-ranking SPLA-IO officials in the capital.

Clashes between the two forces have intensified since March 26 in various parts of the country, particularly in Upper Nile, Unity and Central Equatoria States. ■