At least six people, who the Ruweng Administrative Area authorities say were members of a peace delegation, were killed in Wunkur County when they were attacked by SPLA-IO forces over the weekend.

Akuot, the Ruweng Administration spokesperson, confirmed that indeed six people were shot dead and one injured on Saturday when a peace delegation visited Wunkur County.

“We recorded six people dead and another one wounded in the attack at Wunkur. We have not heard about the dead and wounded on the SPLA-IO side. This is very sad news as it violates the ceasefire and the peace agreement,” she said. “The Ruweng Administrative Area condemns the killing of six civilians in Wunkur County by SPLA-IO forces belonging to First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny.”

“Wunkur County has been a base of the SPLA-IO since early 2014 and they did not vacate it up to now,” Akuot added.

According to the spokesperson, the peace delegation was dispatched by the chairperson of the peace commission in the Ruweng Administrative Area to disseminate peace messages and create awareness about the revitalized peace agreement.

“We need the SPLA-IO troops who participated in the killing of six civilians and who wounded one person to be brought to book and face justice,” Akuot said.

Meanwhile, SPLA-IO Spokesperson Col. Lam Paul Gabriel said a unit of the SSPDF attacked their positions in Wunkur County on Saturday.

“A few days ago, there were two pickup vehicles full of SSPDF Soldiers who came to an SPLA-IO-controlled area of Wunkur and when they were questioned by the SPLA-IO base commander, they said they were going to fix telecommunications. He told them that they need to come with a document from the governor or the commissioner,” he explained. “You people call the area Wunkur but the people from the Tonga side call it Wij Panyikang and that has been the name SPLA-IO has been using all along. And we believe the local authorities in Tonga are responsible for that area.”

According to Col. Lam, the SSPDF soldiers were directed to go and get a document and a pass from the relevant authorities.

“However, on Saturday, they came with full force and started attacking our base and that caused us to fight back in self-defense.  So, it is true that about seven soldiers got killed. They were not civilians and we have to be very sincere,” he said. “The Ruweng Administrator has to be sincere because the attackers were in uniform and well-armed and three vehicles were taken from them and one was mounted with a 12.7mm machine gun. You cannot justify sending heavily armed people for a peace mission.”

“If we are attacked, we will defend ourselves and this is what happened in Wunkur,” Col. Lam added.