South Sudan’s rebels allied to sacked First Vice President Riek Macha’s SPLA-IO faction say they carried out the Thursday ambush on a convoy of government and military vehicles along the Juba-Nimule.

Yesterday’s attack claimed 14 and left scores wounded, South Sudan police spokesman Daniel Justin Boulogne said Thursday.

But according to SPLA-IO deputy military spokesman Paul Gabriel Lam, over 30 were killed.

“Yes, we carried out an attack yesterday [Thursday]. We ambushed four government vehicles and senior officials were killed, and we know that civilians also died but it was a result of crossfire, so it was not done intentionally,” Lam is quoted by local media as saying.