The South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF) said the heavy gunfire on Tuesday night that shook residents of the capital were isolated security hiccups that were not politically motivated.
Maj. Gen Lul Ruai Koang, Spokesperson of the SSPDF said the two shooting incidents stemmed from two unrelated individuals, who refused to be searched by security forces at various security checkpoints, prompting the security officers to open fire at the vehicles.
“We would like to tell members of the public to coordinate with security forces, that are carrying out regular vehicle searches because what they are looking for at night are harmful instruments such as unlicensed guns, crude weapons like knives, machetes and forbidden drugs,” Koang told journalists at a joint press conference on Wednesday held at the police headquarters in Juba.
Heavy gunfire was heard in Suk Melisha, Medan Rainbow and Thongpiny areas.
Koang disclosed that two separate incidents involved a lawyer Santino Simon Aban who had given a ride to two underage girls and another individual Tong Yay Akol who was driving a vehicle belonging to the SSPDF.
He said that in both incidents the duo evaded being searched at the various checkpoints, prompting the soldiers on duty to open fire at them.
“The other important thing is that the shootings occurred at intervals, and the shootings are not related because they were not connected, and there is no underlying security or political motives, they were purely individual related incidents,” Koang said.
Koang added that the suspects will be subjected to further investigations by the police criminal investigation department and military intelligence.
He disclosed that following the two shooting incidents, some trigger happy armed people went on a shooting spree that further scared the population.
“The other thing that you also need to know is that after those genuine incidents were registered, some irresponsible armed men whether they are in the armed forces or in possession of guns illegally went on random shooting,” he said.
Both shooting incidents came in the wake of heavy deployment of presidential guards since July 20, along some of the key roads in the capital.
