SPLAIO NAS accused of attacking looting civilians in Morobo County

MOROBO — Local authorities of Morobo County of South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State on Tuesday accused the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) and National Salvation Front (NAS) of attacking and looting civilians’ property in the area.

The SPLA-IO, led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny, and the National Salvation Front, a militant group led by Gen. Thomas Cirillo operating in Central Equatoria, have been accused of looting, raping, killing, and displacing civilians in Morobo County.

Charles Data, Commissioner of Morobo County, told on Tuesday that SPLA-IO forces who were dislodged from the cantonment sites in recent clashes with government troops have joined hands with the NAS, a rebel faction, to cause havoc in the county.

“When they were chased away from their original locations, which were called the containment areas, now they are all over the bush and where the civilians are staying. So currently now they are getting food from the civilians,” Data said.

Data said two people were killed and two others injured in an attack along Ikaia Road, 27 miles from Morobo town, when they fell into an ambush after returning from the farm last month.

The commissioner expressed fear that the situation would worsen due to the presence of the NAS, a rebel faction loyal to Thomas Cirillo, who are currently active in Lujulo and Udabi.

“They are also currently becoming so active that they are looting the civilians, taking their cows, beating them, harassing them, and doing a lot of atrocities, which we are witnessing.”

He called on the national government and state to intervene to stabilize the security in the areas as the internally displaced persons who had fled to Uganda are voluntarily returning to Morobo.

Clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces in April have displaced thousands from Morobo County, with some taking refuge in the neighboring country of Uganda.

According to the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, nearly 3,000 households have been displaced in the recent clashes between SSPDF and SPLA-IO forces and other related insecurity in Morobo County.

sudanspost.com